Ruud van Nistelrooy may rejoin Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff at Old Trafford, bringing his experience from Manchester United.

Club insiders have refrained from commenting on rumours circulating in the Netherlands that the former United striker has been contacted, and they maintain that Ineos, the new co-owner, is concentrating on reaching a “positive” agreement with Ten Hag on a new contract.

The 47-year-old Dutchman might take over for Benni McCarthy, the forwards coach, or Mitchell van der Gaag, the assistant to Ten Hag, whose contract expires at the end of the month.

Van Nistelrooy is reportedly interested in going back to Burnley, even though he is now a strong candidate to succeed Vincent Kompany as Burnley manager. From 2001 to 2006, he scored 150 goals in 219 games for United.

After a falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson, the Holland striker moved to Real Madrid, having won the FA Cup, League Cup, and Premier League.

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In addition to serving as the Dutch national team’s assistant, Van Nistelrooy has held one managerial position at PSV Eindhoven.

After bringing the team to second place in the Eredivisie and the Dutch Cup, he resigned from the position 14 months ago.

Despite travelling to Ten Hag’s vacation home in Ibiza earlier this month to tell the manager he will remain in charge after an end-of-season evaluation, Ineos intends to make changes to United’s coaching staff.

The focus of negotiations for a new contract is on a redesigned position that would give him less control over hiring.