Ruud van Nistelrooy's prolific goalscoring exploits have safeguarded his place in United folklore.

The Dutchman struck 110 goals in his first three seasons in Manchester. He overtook Denis Law's title as the club's all-time top scorer in European competition in his fourth term, and, in his fifth year at OT, reached 150 goals in under 200 starts. This record guarantees Old Trafford legend status, arguably the club's second-best striker behind the Lawman and possibly the greatest natural goalscorer the Premiership has ever seen.

United initially had to be patient to get their man. In July 1998, he marked his 22nd birthday by signing for PSV Eindhoven from Heerenveen for £4.2million, a then record Dutch fee. In two years Ruud notched 60 goals for PSV, alerting United.

So keen was Sir Alex to sign van Nistelrooy that he stayed in contact with the player as he recovered from a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained in training for PSV. That setback came days after failing a United medical in April 2000. He finally arrived on 23 April 2001 for £19m.

Reds got their first glimpse of van Nistelrooy in the 2001 Charity Shield against Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Liverpool won the game 2-1 but United fans exited the stadium highly content with what they had witnessed, specifically the way Ruud pounced on a ball from Ryan Giggs, rounded Kop keeper Sander Westerveld and slotted home with ease. It was a taste of things to come.

Van Nistelrooy's 36 goals in his debut season included 23 in the league, two in the FA Cup and an incredible 10 in Europe, as well