Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has today announced his retirement from football.

In a Malaga press conference, the 35-year-old said his body could no longer handle the physical pressure being put on his body.

After scoring 75 goals in 91 games for PSV, Ruud joined United for £19m and spent five years at the club.

Ruud made 219 of his total 589 football club appearances for Manchester United, scoring 150 of his total of 347. He is still United’s top scorer in Europe with 38 goals.

He left United in the summer of 2006 for £10.3m after falling out with the manager, something he has since spoken of with regret.

“My relationship with the fans was very special and that’s why leaving in the way I did was, and still is, a real shame for me because I couldn’t really say goodbye to them,” he said. “It was my only regret that it went like that and it’s a shame that it happened, particularly for the fans as I saw the people at the club before I left but I never got a chance to properly say goodbye to the fans.”

At Real Madrid he scored 64 goals in 96 games and won the league title twice.

Ruud then spent two seasons at Hamburger SV before joining Málaga at the start of this season.