Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Nistelrooy has been the top scorer in three UEFA Champions League seasons, and is the sixth-highest goalscorer in the competition's history with 56 goals.

[5] Van Nistelrooy began his career with Den Bosch, before moving onto Heerenveen, eventually making a name for himself at PSV Eindhoven, where he won two Eredivisie titles.

Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in just 219 games for United, as well as becoming at the time their all-time European record goalscorer, but fell out of favour towards the end of his tenure.

Although an injury blighted the end of his days with Madrid, he won La Liga twice and the Supercopa de España before signing for Hamburger SV during the January transfer window in 2010.

Born in Oss, North Brabant,[2] Van Nistelrooy started his career in 1993, aged 17, with Dutch Eerste Divisie side Den Bosch, where he was converted from a central midfielder to centre-forward, after playing for local clubs Nooit Gedacht and RKSV Margriet.

Van Nistelrooy was signed by PSV Eindhoven ahead of the 1998-99 next season for €6.3 million, a then-record transfer sum between two Dutch teams.

[12] He was to be unveiled at a press conference four days later, but this was instead used to announce that the transfer had been postponed over concerns about his fitness, having not played for a month due to problems with his knee.

[13] The transfer was then cancelled after PSV refused to agree to further medical tests,[14][15] and the next day he suffered a rupture to his anterior cruciate knee ligaments during a training session, leaving him injured for a year.

"[19] According to a 2001 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson said that his son, Darren, who was at try-outs for Eredivisie rival Heerenveen at the time, begged his father, "You've got to sign Van Nistelrooy right away, he's fantastic.

[20] On 19 August, Van Nistelrooy made his Premier League debut against Fulham at Old Trafford, and scored two goals to help United to a 3–2 win.

[47] Van Nistelrooy missed a large part of the 2004–05 season due to injury, but nonetheless scored a Champions League-best eight goals.

However, he was benched for the League Cup Final against Wigan Athletic, fuelling speculation of a rift between him and Alex Ferguson, which Van Nistelrooy denied.

This was in reference to United's Portuguese assistant manager, Carlos Queiroz,[57] but Ronaldo took the statement literally and allegedly broke into tears since his father, José had died eight months previously.

On 15 July 2006, Ferguson confirmed that Van Nistelrooy wanted to leave Manchester United and Real Madrid announced two weeks later that he had signed a three-year contract after being purchased for €14 million.

[65] In January 2008, Van Nistelrooy signed a contract extension keeping him with Madrid until 2010, with the expiration date one day shy of his 34th birthday.

[66] He underwent ankle surgery in March,[67] and returned for the El Clásico derby against Barcelona on 7 May, in which he netted a penalty two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

In November 2008, Real Madrid announced that Van Nistelrooy would miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season after exploratory arthroscopic surgery revealed a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, with an expected recovery time of six to nine months following a second operation to repair the damage.

On 24 August 2009, in the last pre-season match before the start of La Liga, Van Nistelrooy stepped on the pitch for the first time since his injury and played the last 15 minutes of the game against Rosenborg, substituting Kaká.

[71] On 27 October, Van Nistelrooy made his second comeback of the season coming on as a substitute for Raúl in the 71st minute against Alcorcón in the Copa del Rey.

[77] Van Nistelrooy scored his only competitive hat-trick with Hamburg on 15 August 2010, in a 5–1 win over Torgelower SV Greif in the first round of the 2010–11 DFB-Pokal.

[85] On 1 June 2011, Van Nistelrooy returned to Spain to pen a one-year deal with La Liga side Málaga, on a free transfer.

[89] Just one day before his retirement, Van Nistelrooy made his last appearance of his career, coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute for goalscorer Salomón Rondón, who scored the only goal in Málaga's league match against Sporting Gijón.

[104] Van Basten left the striker out of the squad for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland on 16 August 2006,[105] and Dirk Kuyt replaced him in their next match against Portugal in September.

[108] After several phone conversations and at the persuasion of veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, however, both player and coach put aside their differences.

[118] Van Nistelrooy was again recalled to the squad in March 2011 for two Euro 2012 qualification games with Hungary, after injuries to strikers Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Arjen Robben and Theo Janssen.

[134] In spite of his talent and goalscoring ability, however, at times he drew criticism from managers, players and pundits for his controversial behaviour, as well as for having a tendency to be selfish, overly flamboyant, or for his penchant for simulation.

[140] After winning the 2022 Johan Cruyff Shield and 2022–23 KNVB Cup, he resigned with one match remaining in the 2022–23 Eredivisie season, citing a lack of support.

[141] On 11 July 2024, Van Nistelrooy was appointed as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United on a two-year contract.

[146] On 29 November 2024, Van Nistelrooy was appointed manager of Premier League club Leicester City on a two-and-a-half-year deal running until June 2027.

In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Edgar Davids, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona as the tournament "referee".