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Ruud: I'd welcome Ronaldo

25/01/2007

Ruud van Nistelrooy has said he would welcome former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu.

Van Nistelrooy was thought to have had a fall-out with Ronaldo last season, but the Dutch striker was full of praise for United's leading scorer when he spoke to Real Madrid's website this week.

Ronaldo was linked with a possible move to Spain after last summer's World Cup and there have been rumours that the Real could be planning a bid at the end of the current season.

While he seemed to doubt whether Sir Alex Ferguson would let his star player leave, Van Nistelrooy said talk of a feud had been blown out of all proportion.

"Nothing serious ever happened," the 30-year-old said. "The press simply made too much out of nothing."

"It will be up to Real Madrid and Manchester to see what happens. Every new team-mate is welcome," he added.

Van Nistelrooy, who has bagged ten goals in 16 league games for Madrid, this week announced his retirement from international football, claiming that coach Marco van Basten had failed to show confidence in him.

"I just wanted the coach to have confidence in me," Van Nistelrooy claimed. "As he couldn't provide that confidence, I declined joining Holland.

"I could return if he changes his mind on certain issues."


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