Van Nistelrooy happy to stay with United

LETHAL Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has committed his future to Manchester United until 2008 and underlined the importance of keeping Sir Alex Ferguson as manager.

Ferguson's 17-year Old Trafford reign continues to be questioned in light of his legal fight with John Magnier over record-breaking racehorse Rock of Gibraltar even though he signed a one-year rolling extension to his current contract only 24 hours ago. But if Magnier needed to know how crucial Ferguson is to United, he should listen to van Nistelrooy, whose £70,000-a-week deal (€102,400) will net him over £17m (€24m).

"Sir Alex is a very important factor in this," he told MUTV.