The Times:
Banished by Sir Alex Ferguson, Ruud van Nistelrooy will this morning join the Holland squad for a pre-World Cup training camp in the knowledge that his Manchester United career is over. The forward was left in no doubt about that as he was informed by Ferguson on Sunday that he would be excluded from the squad for the final Barclays Premiership game of the season against Charlton Athletic and for the visit of Celtic for Roy Keane's testimonial match this evening.
Van Nistelrooy is particularly aggrieved at his exclusion from tonight's match for Keane, a team-mate he admired precisely for the strong-mindedness that ultimately proved his undoing at Old Trafford, and the former United captain will doubtless appreciate the irony. He left Old Trafford under a cloud in November, accused by Ferguson of damaging team spirit with a series of outbursts at his underachieving young team-mates, and now Van Nistelrooy is facing a similarly ignominious departure amid allegations of "incidents at training", which are believed to relate to the latest in a series of disagreements with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Van Nistelrooy left Old Trafford at midday on Sunday after being told by Ferguson that he would play no part against Charlton. The forward drove the short distance to his home in Cheshire and booked himself on the first available flight to Amsterdam, but he is believed to be outraged by his treatment and by the suggestion that he walked out on the team, with one source claiming that he was told by the manager that he was not welcome to join the rest of the squad.
The player's agent, Rodger Linse, declined to comment last night, saying "whatever my thoughts are, I'm not going to share them with the press", but sources in both camps are united in the belief that the rift between Van Nistelrooy and Ferguson is damaged beyond repair. Some claim that Van Nistelrooy has been agitating for a move all season, having been talked out of a move by Ferguson 12 months ago, but others believe that he is the victim of a concerted campaign by a manager who is desperate to sell him. The truth, as ever, appears to lie somewhere in between.
The Guardian:
Not everyone at Manchester United agrees with Sir Alex Ferguson that the club would be better off without Ruud van Nistelrooy but nobody will stand in the manager's way as he prepares to add the Dutch striker to the long list of players he has spectacularly disposed of. Ferguson spoke at length with his chief executive David Gill yesterday and the outcome is that Van Nistelrooy is available to the highest bidder, valued in the region of £10m.
In a move which could play a defining part in his own future, a defiant Ferguson is understood to have informed Gill that he regarded Van Nistelrooy's recent behaviour as unacceptable and bordering on mutinous. He said he saw it as an affront to his authority and the damage to their relationship was likely to be irreparable.
His disdain for Van Nistelrooy can be gauged from the fact that he has told him he will not be welcome to join the rest of the first-team squad for Roy Keane's testimonial match against Celtic at Old Trafford tonight. A deeply insulted Van Nistelrooy has instead flown to the Netherlands to join a pre-World Cup training camp, having initially been given special dispensation to stay in Manchester with his club colleagues.
Van Nistelrooy believes he is being strategically alienated but Ferguson, always one to get his retaliation in first, has skilfully set about using his contacts in the media to portray the Dutchman as being to blame. Ferguson, absolving himself of any culpability, has advised some of his closest associates that he has been appalled by Van Nistelrooy's attitude since he was dropped from the Carling Cup final on February 26 and that nothing the manager did could snap him out of it.
Van Nistelrooy is closer to Keane than many people realise and was looking forward to playing in his testimonial but that will not be allowed, as Ferguson made clear in the same conversation that prompted the striker to drive home after learning he had been dropped for Sunday's game against Charlton Athletic. That was the moment when it became clear the tensions had gone beyond the point of no return.
Van Nistelrooy is now waiting to hear from the club, with Gill expected to contact the player's agent Rodger Linse. The most prolific striker at Old Trafford since Denis Law is aware that there will be no shortage of potential buyers. He is known to be desperately disappointed that he looks certain to emulate Keane by leaving in acrimonious circumstances but, not wanting to inflame the situation, he has declined to comment and has cancelled at least one prearranged interview with a Dutch newspaper.
Irish Examiner:
Ruud van Nistelrooy's row with Alex Ferguson has cost him an appearance in his old mate Roy Keane's testimonial at Old Trafford tomorrow.
As one of the few United first-team stars to speak up for Keane following the Irishman's well-publicised, but never publicly heard, MUTV lambasting of the Red Devils lamentable performance in their 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough in October, Van Nistelrooy was looking forward to the chance of meeting up with his old captain again.
Instead, the Dutchman will join him only in his exile from Old Trafford.
Although there has been no official confirmation from any party over Van Nistelrooy's availability to face Celtic, it is understood the 29-year-old has already returned to the Netherlands to begin preparations for this summer's World Cup.