Van Nistelrooy Addresses Player Fitness, Future, and European Ambitions

Manchester United’s interim manager, Ruud van Nistelrooy, addressed reporters ahead of the club’s Europa League fixture against PAOK on Thursday, scheduled for a 20:00 GMT kick-off. The following are the main points from his press briefing: Van Nistelrooy confirmed he has not had any “contact” with incoming manager Ruben Amorim and remains “waiting for conversations to take place” regarding his own future, stating, “I don’t know when it will be yet either.” Regarding player fitness, defender Leny Yoro has resumed training, with the club overseeing his progression back to full match readiness. Van Nistelrooy commented, “We are going to get him back, partially, over the next couple of weeks and we will look to get him on board as quickly as possible.” He further updated on other players sidelined with long-term injuries, noting that Tyrell Malacia is “furthest” from achieving match fitness. Harry Maguire is “still inside working on his rehab,” and Luke Shaw is “doing pitch work,” with expectations of joining “partial team training” in the near future. Addressing Marcus Rashford’s individual training prior to joining the main group session today, Van Nistelrooy stated, “There is no special news,” clarifying that the winger was simply undertaking “a bit of extra work before the session on his own.” On centre-forward Rasmus Hojlund, who has scored two goals in 10 appearances across all competitions this season, Van Nistelrooy advised him to “needs to stay calm and believe in himself and his qualities.” He added, “He knows he is young and promising. The daily work he is putting in will pay off for him and his team-mates, I’m confident in that.” Regarding his focus on his present role rather than the upcoming decisions of Ruben Amorim, Van Nistelrooy asserted, “I’m putting all of my energy in with the current squad. The next two games are vital for the season and I think I’m doing the new manager the best favour by concentrating on the games.” He acknowledged that maintaining player focus for last week’s matches against Leicester City and Chelsea was challenging due to “things were changing quickly and massively,” but noted that the situation has “calmed down” this week, with the entire club now “focusing on the next two performances.” Addressing the upcoming match against current Greek Super League champions PAOK, he stated, “It is a game of high priority – we know it needs all of our attention and power. We have analysed them very well – they have lots of talented and experienced players. They are a strong side that will be supported here with 4,000 travelling fans. We are ready to face a very tough game.” Van Nistelrooy emphasized his belief in the “important” nature of success in European competitions, citing it as a key factor in his decision to return to his former club. He remarked, “I arrived at the club to help the club build to those years, where there were successful times in Europe, again.” When questioned about the club’s limited European success over the last decade, he pointed out, “There was the Europa League final with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] and the Europa League win with [Jose] Mourinho – I think they are big European successes. Manchester United are always there to compete in Europe, that is what we want.”