Ruud van Nistelrooy issues demand to Leicester chiefs following relegation (2025)

Leicester City's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on Sunday and Ruud van Nistelrooy wants the club's hierarchy to quickly decide on their next move

Ruud van Nistelrooy has challenged the Leicester owners to use the coming weeks wisely otherwise "they will waste it". The Dutchman has been unable to halt the Foxes' relegation from the Premier League.

The loss to Liverpool confirmed the inevitable, which had been a long time coming, following a season of struggles for the side who had been promoted from the Championship as champions. Van Nistelrooy was appointed as Steve Cooper's replacement, but couldn't halt their slide.

The former Manchester United striker has previously claimed that he would remain with Leicester regardless of how this season turned out and he has a contract until 2027. Now he is seeking assurances and “alignment” and feels preparation for next season needs to begin imminently.

Leicester's recruitment has not been up to standard and they've continued to come up short, particularly at home, where they've set an unwanted record having failed to score in their last nine games.

Van Nistelrooy now wants to know what is coming next as he said: "The club has to use this time, otherwise you will waste it. In a situation like this, you have to sit very carefully with the club to discuss the matters. I'm focused and taking my responsibility to do the best things for things for the football club, the future and next season.

"Performances like Brighton and the Liverpool game are signs the players are willing to do that and finish the season the best way possible the new season will start and continue. We have to take responsibility and that's what I'm doing for the next five weeks and after that we have to see."

City chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin were present at the game to witness the club's relegation and they have come in for particular criticism. Leicester's recent demise has been well documented with fans holding protests.

Leicester have lost 16 of their last 18 Premier League games and have a decision to make on whether they see Van Nistelrooy as the man to guide them back into the top flight. The 48-year-old admits he expected more from himself and the team.

He said: “I expected it get more points than I was able to get over the games I was able to lead. I think there were some very good performances but not with any points.

"There were also performances where we didn’t perform to our capabilities, losing games in the first half, there were too many of them. It was a mixture. I expected to bring more points to the table.”

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