Ruud van Nistelrooy insists he is 'very motivated to stay' at ...

Updated 31/10/2024 at 22:22 GMT

Manchester United interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy has said that it is his “absolute goal” to remain at the club once his temporary spell in charge is over.

The club sacked Erik ten Hag earlier this week with the club 14th in the Premier League following a string of poor performances, with the final straw being a late defeat to West Ham United in London on Sunday.

Van Nistelrooy, who was appointed as a first-team coach under Ten Hag in the summer, held a press conference on Thursday and spoke about his motivation to remain at the club.

"I decided to come back here for a very important reason - I'm here as an assistant to help the club forward,” he told reporters at United’s Carrington base. “I'm still very motivated to do so in any capacity.

"As an assistant and now as an interim manager, and after that I go back to my assistant contract that I have here for this season and next. 

“I'm very motivated to stay here and help the club forward. That's my absolute goal."

Ruben Amorim is expected to fill the vacant hot seat at Old Trafford, but it is unclear when he could expect to start his new role as Sporting CP and United remain locked in talks.

Chelsea visit Man Utd on Sunday in improved form, while The Red Devils have only won two of their last nine games in all competitions.

Van Nistelrooy got off to a good start to his tenure, as United picked up a win in the Carabao Cup fourth round, beating Leicester City 5-2 on Wednesday.

And the Man Utd legend hopes his team can take that form into Sunday’s clash.

"I'm guessing that too,” Van Nistelrooy replied when asked if he would be taking charge of the team for the Chelsea game. 

“As I said, it's going to be a short job as an interim, that was communicated very clear and I was happy with that. I felt that I was called upon to help the club forward in this situation. 

‘It will be very clear’ – Amorim insists clarity over future will come in ‘one more day’

“Obviously, it was difficult, Erik had to leave, I was very disappointed with mixed feelings but after that, you have to switch the mindset to win because 75,000 people are waiting and celebrating and millions are watching at home. 

“That's what we tried to do and the same for Sunday at least, and then after that we'll see."

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