Ruud van Nistelrooy is appointed Leicester City manager

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has been appointed as Leicester City’s new manager, the Premier League club announced on Friday.

Van Nistelrooy, 48, has signed a contract until the end of the 2027 season to succeed Steve Cooper as Leicester manager after the England manager left on Sunday, a day after the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the King Power Stadium , was fired.

Leicester confirmed that Van Nistelrooy will attend the team’s game against Brentford on Saturday and will officially start his new role the following day. First team coach Ben Dawson will take charge of the team at the weekend.

“I’m proud, I’m excited,” Van Nistelrooy said in a statement. “Everyone I talk to about Leicester City Football Club is excited. They have great stories about the quality of the people working at the club, the fans and of course the club’s recent history is impressive. “I’m looking forward to getting started and getting to know everyone and giving everything I can for the football club.”

Van Nistelrooy’s first game as manager is against West Ham on Tuesday.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Ruud to Leicester City,” said chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha. “He joins a club with a rich history, passionate fans and a talented squad and we are all excited to see the impact he can have as we embark on this new chapter together.”

“Ruud’s experience, knowledge and winning mentality will undoubtedly be of great value to us and we look forward to supporting him to achieve success for our fans and our club.”

The former Dutch striker joined United’s coaching staff in July as assistant to his compatriot Erik ten Hag. After Ten Hag was sacked last month, Van Nistelrooy took over on an interim basis and managed three wins and a draw in his four games at the helm before Ruben Amorim was brought in as Ten Hag’s full-time replacement.

Coincidentally, Van Nistelrooy’s short tenure at Old Trafford included two victories over his new team – a 5-2 win over a weakened Leicester side in the Carabao Cup and a 3-0 victory in the Premier League.

The Leicester job is Van Nistelrooy’s second full-time managerial role after leading PSV Eindhoven for almost a season, where he won the Dutch Cup, before quitting towards the end of the 2022/23 season.

The Midlands club enjoyed an impressive Premier League title success in 2015-2016, but were relegated in 2023 before gaining promotion straight back under Enzo Maresca, who then moved to Chelsea.

Leicester are in 16th place in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report