MADRID, July 27 (Reuters) - Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy
will join Real Madrid from Manchester United on a three-year
contract, the Primera Liga club said on Thursday.
The deal is reported by Spanish media to be worth around 15 million
euros ($19.12 million).
'Real Madrid have reached an agreement with Manchester United for
the signing of Ruud van Nistelrooy,' the Spanish club said in a
statement.
'The player will take a medical on Friday morning and will be
presented in the afternoon at 1700 GMT in the Bernabeu.'
The 30-year-old scored 150 goals for United since joining in 2001
for a then British record fee of £19 million ($35.39
million).
He is Real's third signing under new president Ramon Calderon
following on from Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro and Brazil
midfielder Emerson, and will link up with former Manchester United
team mate David Beckham.
Van Nistelrooy put in a transfer request two weeks ago and Real and
Bayern Munich had been competing to secure his services for next
season.
The Dutchman fell out of favour at United in the latter part of
last season as manager Alex Ferguson increasingly looked to Louis
Saha to partner Wayne Rooney in attack.
He was an unused substitute in United's 4-0 victory over Wigan in
the League Cup final in February and stormed out of Old Trafford
when he was left out of their final league match of the season
against Charlton Athletic in May.
Van Nistelrooy, who has scored 28 goals in 54 games for
Netherlands, found the net just once at the recent World Cup and
was left on the bench by Dutch coach Marco van Basten during their
second-round defeat against Portugal.
The Dutchman will face stiff competition from Raul, Robinho, Julio
Baptista, Antonio Cassano and Ronaldo for a place in the Real
attack, although his arrival is likely to hasten the departure of
at least one of the forwards.
Real are in the process of trying to put together a team under new
coach Fabio Capello which will help them win their first trophy in
four seasons.
Van Nistelrooy started his career with Dutch sides Den Bosch and
Heerenveen before joining PSV Eindhoven in 1998 where he scored an
impressive 62 goals from 67 appearances.
United manager Ferguson continued with his bid to bring Van
Nistelrooy to the club even after the striker failed a medical in
April 2000 and then sustained a serious cruciate knee ligament
injury while training with PSV a few days later.
He finally arrived in 2001 and repaid Ferguson's faith in him by
scoring 36 goals in all competitions in his debut season.
He was the Premier League's leading scorer with 25 goals when
United won the championship in 2003 and was also named PFA Player
of the Year.
He has scored 20 goals or more in four of his five seasons at Old
Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy is United's all-time top scorer in Europe, having
surpassed Denis Law's long-standing record in September 2004 and is
the fourth highest scorer in the European Cup, level on 47 goals
with Portuguese great Eusebio.
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