‘I am convinced’ – Van Nistelrooy backs under-fire Manchester United duo

Ruud van Nistelrooy has three more games as Manchester United interim manager and he will be expecting the highest of standards from his players.

The legendary striker has cited two players he believes will improve the team long-term, despite questions being asked of them since their summer arrivals.

Uruguay international Manuel Ugarte signed from Paris Saint-Germain for a £42 million fee, following a lengthy pursuit in the summer transfer market. His best performance yet came in the 5-2 win over Leicester City on Wednesday night and we need him to repeat those levels against Chelsea today.

Of course, consistency is something a lot of United players have suffered with in recent years, but Van Nistelrooy believes Ugarte has something to offer.

“I am convinced Manuel will be a great player for United,” Van Nistelrooy said, as per The Express. “He’s only been here a couple of months but I think he is a great signing. He has very specific qualities in midfield where he gets in between players, we recover a lot of balls and get us into attacking positions.”

Van Nistelrooy has confidence in Joshua Zirkzee

Joshua Zirkzee is another new signing who has faced plenty of criticism since his switch from Bologna to United. There appears to be a misunderstanding that he came as a goalscorer when he’s a lot more likely to link up play with his team-mates.

The proof is there with only one goal in 14 appearances.

Still, tough, Van Nistelrooy is backing Zirkzee to perform better as he gains experience in the Premier League.

“Josh is similar to Manuel, he’s a young player with a lot of potential so we need to look after, give him time,” he added. “He will get better and be a very big player for this club.”

United were busy in the summer as INEOS backed Erik ten Hag in the market. They also signed Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui.