Leeds United Championship rivals close in on star name as manager search nears conclusion

Leeds United rivals Burnley are closing in on the appointment of former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward Ruud van Nistelrooy. That's according to Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf, who claim van Nistelrooy is ready to join the Clarets as they prepare for life back in the Championship.

Burnley have been looking for a new manager since Vincent Kompany, who spent two seasons at Turf Moor, opted to leave in order to join Bayern Munich. The club have cast their net far and wide in their pursuit of a new man to lead them through the upcoming campaign with promotion at the first time of asking the goal.

The likes of Frank Lampard, Scott Parker and Liam Rosenior have all been considered for the role, while there have been reports that Burnley's decision makers are fans of former Lazio chief Igor Tudor, who recently resigned from his post at Lazio. However, if the Dutch report is to be believed, it would seem as though van Nistelrooy is the favourite to take the reins at the Lancashire club.

Van Nistelrooy has been out of work since deciding to leave PSV Eindhoven at the end of the 2022-23 Eredivisie campaign, citing a lack of support from those at the top of the club. He led them to the the KNVB Cup and the Johan Cruyff Shield during his year in charge, winning 33 of the 51 games played.

The 47-year-old has the type of big name the club have been looking for and it is claimed he fits the bill in terms of his ambition and style of play, too, as Burnley look to build on the work Kompany did at Turf Moor. The report also adds that a multi-year contract is close to being agreed upon.

The Dutchman hung up his playing boots in 2012 after a short stint with Malaga and shortly after he joined the youth coaching set-up at PSV, where he scored 77 goals in 90 appearances as a player. He joined up with the Netherlands in 2014 to work as Guus Hiddink's assistant and in 2018 he became manager of Eindhoven's U19s.

That led to the Jong PSV job before taking over as head coach of the first-team in 2022. As a player, the striker started his career at Den Bosch before joining Heerenveen and PSV. In 2001 he made the £18.5 million switch to Man United, where he scored 150 goals in five seasons, before spending three campaigns in the white of Real Madrid. A stint at Hamburg came before the aforementioned year in Malaga.

Interestingly, the report claims one of the first decisions van Nistelrooy would have to make in the job, should he put pen to paper, is what to do with countryman Wout Weghorst. According to reports, the striker, who is away at Euro 2024, is close to agreeing terms with Ajax, but a deal has not been struck between the two clubs. Weghorst has spent the last two seasons out on loan and he is widely expected to move on permanently this summer.