Real Madrid say they have agreed to sign Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on a three-year contract. Madrid announced the deal in a statement on their website on Thursday, but gave no details of a fee.

 

United were believed to be demanding at least £15m for the 30-year-old, who had handed in a written transfer request. In their statement, Real said they would present Van Nistelrooy - who scored 150 goals for United - on Friday evening after a medical in the morning.

 

Reports earlier on Thursday said Real would pay about £10.2m (15m Euros) for the Dutchman. In their statement, Madrid said: "Real Madrid announce they have an agreement with Manchester United for the transfer of the player Ruud van Nistelrooy.

 

"The player will be contracted with the club for the next three seasons. He will undergo a medical on Friday morning and will be presented in the evening at 7pm at the Palco de Honor at the Santiago Bernabeu."

 

United were thought to be demanding at least £15m for the 30-year-old. If the move goes through, Van Nistelrooy will link up with former United team-mate David Beckham at the Bernabeu. Sir Alex Ferguson said: "He is one of the best strikers in the country, one of the best strikers in Europe, so when you think about Andriy Shevchenko going for £35m - he is a similar age group."

 

Spanish radio station Cadena SER said on Thursday that a deal of just over £10m had been agreed between the two clubs and that the Dutchman would sign a three-year deal.

 

Ukraine captain Shevchenko, 29, joined United's Premiership rivals Chelsea in May. United signed Van Nistelrooy, who returned to training with the Red Devils on Monday, for £19m from PSV Eindhoven in 2001.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/5219384.stm

:o

It was just a matter of time before he went somewhere....ah well.

He was a great player when he was at his Man Utd peak.

another mistake from United managers

 

i still can't believe they sold Becks that time for such a "little money"

and now Ruud who probably still have 2-3 good seasons in his career...oh well

 

Utd needs to buy somebody instead of him. even if Man U have many forwards (Rooney, Saha, Rossi, Solskjaer, Smith), i believe only 1 of them is a world class player

Van Niistelrooy out, 10.3m

Carrick in, 14.m

 

sounds good business to me