Man Utd news: Ruud van Nistelrooy left for Real Madrid after Cristiano Ronaldo bust-up

Van Nistelrooy enjoyed five successful seasons at Old Trafford, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup and scoring 95 goals in 150 games.

But the Holland great was somewhat surprisngly sold by Manchester United to Real Madrid in a £10million deal in the summer of 2006.

Van Nistelrooy had fallen out with manager Sir Alex Ferguson and handed in a transfer request to seal his move to the Bernabeu.

But according to former political strategist Campbell, who worked with Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister and is good friends with Ferguson, Van Nistelrooy had to leave United after offending Ronaldo in front of his team-mates.

Ronaldo joined United in 2003 and clashed with Van Nistelrooy in Manchester, giving Ferguson a headache to solve when he meet up with pal Campbell in France in June 2006.

Campbell said of Ferguson: “[He was] not sure what was going to happen with Ruud van Nistelrooy [Man U player]. Very self-centred.

“The last straw was when he told Cristiano Ronaldo he had found a new dad in Carlos [Queiroz, Ferguson's assistant] —just after Ronaldo's dad, who was an alcoholic, had died.

"Carlos asked him to show respect and he said he didn't respect anyone there. He later apologised but CR was not having it. Alex sent Van Nistelrooy home when he heard about it later. He was not sure what he was going to do with him."

Van Nistelrooy left United for Real in July 2006, revealing in his unveiling in Madrid that he was hurt at being left out of the United team by Ferguson for the Carling Cup win over Wigan in February.

"When we played the final, that's when I started to feel unhappy," he said.

Asked whether he wanted to leave United because he felt Ferguson was supporting other players and not giving him the support he deserved, Van Nistelrooy replied: "You summed up my feelings quite well."