Ruud van Nistelrooy was left heartbroken after his initial transfer to Manchester United was scrapped due to a knee injury. The Dutchman - who is currently the club's interim manager after the sacking of Erik ten Hag - joined the club in 2001 and spent the next five years of his career at Old Trafford, scoring 150 goals in 219 games.
Having established himself as one of the greatest strikers to ever play for the Premier League giants, his tenure at the Theatre of Dreams was scheduled to actually begin in 2000. READ MORE: Ruben Amorim warned about Carrington intervention as Man United linked to £25m wonderkid READ MORE: Paul Scholes reveals he played secret role in helping Sir Alex Ferguson sign Wayne Rooney United had agreed to a club record £18.5 million transfer with PSV Eindhoven for Van Nistelrooy's signature that summer but a move was sensationally cancelled after suffering issues with his knee.
The former Netherlands international opened up about the ordeal during his appearance on The Overlap with Gary Neville last year. "My first attempt signing for Manchester United was the most anxious moment in my career," he told his former team-mate. "I did the whole medical in Manchester and we were driving up to Old Trafford to do the press conference to sign, and the phone rang.
I was told by the orthopaedic surgeon from United who saw the MRI that my knee was not right, he said, ‘you have to turn around and go back to your hotel, you’re not going to pass a medical'. “We turned the car around and I was seeing Old Trafford right in front of me.