Erik ten Hag isn't the only one at Manchester United who Ruud van Nistelrooy can help

You can almost hear the strains from the Stretford End now, the noises that sounded like boos but meant the complete opposite. Ruud.

As a child of the nineties who followed Manchester United avidly in the noughties, it's hard not to get excited by the prospect of Ruud van Nistelrooy returning to the club. From both a nostalgic and footballing standpoint, it makes total sense.

The current understanding is that the former United striker is considering joining Erik ten Hag's coaching staff as a first team coach, having stepped down as PSV Eindhoven manager last year. United have sounded him out but Van Nistelrooy has also been approached by Burnley for the top job at Turf Moor.

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The hope is that he will go with the red-tinted spectacles and rekindle his affinity with United. Van Nistelrooy departed from Old Trafford under a cloud in 2006 after a fall-out with Sir Alex Ferguson, but has retained his affection for the club despite that.

Speaking to Gary Neville in an interview for The Overlap, Van Nistelrooy said: “I felt the relationship we had [he and Ferguson] made me react in a way that I don’t feel was me. I had to apologise for that and [Ferguson] accepted that directly. We kept in touch and then I felt that the apology was worth it, because the relationship was intact again.”

As well as that clear respect for United's tradition and history, Van Nistelrooy would bring a whole heap of experience if he returns as part of Ten Hag's backroom team.

His coaching CV is pretty impressive. Van Nistelrooy held positions with the Netherlands national side and in the PSV academy, before he became PSV boss outright.

That kind of knowhow and those leadership skills will surely be of assistance to Ten Hag, who quite frankly will need all the help he can get at United next season, having just held on to the manager's job by a hair's breadth this summer.

Rasmus Hojlund is the most obvious player in the current squad who would benefit from having Van Nistelrooy as a mentor.

The Dane enjoyed a promising debut season in trying circumstances at United, scoring 16 goals in all competitions (10 in the league), but he needs to reach the next level. To do that, he must become more clinical and get himself in better positions to latch onto crosses and passes.

Who better than Van Nistelrooy to help him do that, but also to aid the players delivering balls to Hojlund?

Among United's biggest problems in the 2023/24 campaign was creating chances for Hojlund. Compared to striking peers like Erling Haaland, Darwin Nunez and Nicolas Jackson, Hojlund was presented with precious few opportunities to find the net last term. No wonder his goal tally was modest.

The likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Amad Diallo could all use Van Nistelrooy's expertise – and perspective as a former No.9 – to help them find Hojlund more often, and in more dangerous positions. He knows where strikers need the ball to bury it.

So aside from a transformative signing for on the pitch this summer, United could hardly executive a better piece of recruitment than to hire Van Nistelrooy as a coach.

He's got the whole package – and could get United's forwards firing like he did in the famous red shirt 20 years ago. It would be the Ruud awakening the club requires.