Others on Ruud
'Ruud Van Nistelrooy is a top quality player.' - Karel Porborsky, former Manchester United player, June 2004
'How fantastic to have a player in your squad who can score so freely even when he's not at his brilliant best!' - George Best, former Manchester United player, July 2004
'He's remarkable. A fantastic goalscorer who'll go on breaking records.' - Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, September 2004
'The players here have good hearts and have generally put themselves out to really help me. Ruud has been trying really hard to speak Spanish to me.' - Gabriel Heinze, former Manchester United player, November 2004
'To score 30 goals in 33 Champions League games is just phenomenal. Okay, Ruud may have scored a few against the relatively weak teams we face in the group phases, but they can all defend pretty well and to score at that rate in any level of football is amazing.' - George Best, former Manchester United player, Novemer 2004
'Wayne [Rooney] and Cristiano [Ronaldo] are unbelievable talents, but I learn more from the older players like Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ruud Van Nistelrooy - they have the experience.' - Darren Fletcher, Manchester United player, December 2004
'He's been fantastic and has been our major threat in terms of goals since he arrived.' - Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, January 2005
'There are so many classy players who can cause us problems. Particularly Van Nistelrooy, who I believe is one of the very best centre-forwards in the world.' - Paolo Maldini, AC Milan player, April 2005
'Ruud was given the Man of the Match award but he offered it to me, I accepted, and now I have it in the sitting room in my house in Manchester. It was a lovely gesture and I never thought he would do something like that.' - Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United player, May 2005
'In the years he has been with us, Ruud has been the most outstanding striker in Europe. He loves scoring and his record is phenomenal.' - Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, June 2005
'I always felt that Ruud Van Nistelrooy would be an asset for us and he's been fantastic. I mean look at his goalscoring and European record, it's phenomenal.' - Mick Brown, former Manchester United assistant manager, August 2005
'Ruud's that kind of person; goals are the most important thing in his life.' - Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, August 2005
'Ruud is our main source of goals.' - Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, August 2005
'He is a very important player for us with the formation we use.' - Arthur Albiston, former Manchester United player, September 2005
'Ruud's reaction in Lille, almost apologising to the fans, illustrated perfectly how much the club and fans mean to him.' - Rene Meulensteen, Manchester United Reserves coach, January 2006
'It was a great thing that such a big player was so happy for me that I'd scored.' - Giuseppe Rossi, Manchester United player, January 2006
'For me, Ruud is one of the best players in the world and basically I'm always watching what he does and learning from him and everything he does on the pitch.' - Giuseppe Rossi, Manchester United player, January 2006
'We wouldn't swap Wayne [Rooney] and Ruud for anyone in the world. Ruud is just a natural born goalscorer and Wayne can do almost anything.' - Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United player, February 2006
'He's very well respected, has a great manner, good experience, and he's a top player.' - Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, February 2006
'Ruud is a proven goalscorer and the way he can control the ball is unbelievable. There is nobody in England that compares to Ruud...He has the ultimate mentality of a striker...There is nobody in the world like him.' - Louis Saha, Manchester United player, May 2006
'Ruud's ability to turn and strike a ball in the box is incredible.' - Giuseppe Rossi, Manchester United player, May 2006
'Van Nistelrooy is a player who has succeeded at all the clubs he has played for.' - Fabio Capello, Real Madrid coach, July 2006
'He's one of the nicest men you could ever come across...He is a true 25-goals-a-season striker who's proved what he can do on the world stage.' - David Beckham, Real Madrid player, July 2006
'Ruud has got a lot of talent and also works very hard.' - David Beckham, Real Madrid player, July 2006
'You can see he is a fantastic player from the amount of goals he has scored over the years.' - Wayne Rooney, Manchester United player, August 2006
'He is a great player, and any great player is very important for any team.' - David Beckham, Real Madrid Player, May 2007
'A good striker scores one [goal] in two [games]. An exceptional striker is someone with a ratio like Ruud's.' - Ryan Giggs, Manchester United player
'He's so strong, mentally, he just thinks he's going to score all the time.' - Ryan Giggs, Manchester United player
'I had been disappointed to see Ruud go to Real Madrid, because he was a good lad and we got on really well. He was a fantastic player for United and will live long in the memory of our supporters.' - Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United player