Back in 2006, Manchester United surprisingly parted company with star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, with the prolific Dutchman moving to Real Madrid.

The former PSV Eindhoven man is still regarded as a legend at Old Trafford and was one of Sir Alex Ferguson's finest pieces of business during his prolonged reign at the club.

But, instead of departing in heroic circumstances, Van Nistelrooy left as almost a villain, with many saying his poor attitude has caused a lot of tension between him and Ferguson.

The legendary Scotsman was not one to keep hold of a player who did not share his beliefs about how he ran the club and he duly sold the striker.

Details about what really happened have not exactly been easy to come by but journalist Alastair Campbell revealed the one interaction that decided Van Nistelrooy's fate.

It wasn't particularly nice, in fact, it was downright disgusting behaviour from the serial goal scorer.

In June 2006, Campbell met up with Ferguson again, this time in the south of France, the Sunday Times report, per Manchester Evening News.

"The United manager 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."

Yeah, not nice stuff and he was sold soon after, with Cristiano Ronaldo taking over his duties in the squad, forging a lethal partnership with Wayne Rooney.

The two would of course meet up again when the Portuguese winger made an £80m move to Madrid in 2009, spending one season with Van Nistelrooy in the Spanish capital.

Hopefully, the Dutchman behaved in a much more professional manner than he did during his final days in Manchester.

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