Van Nistelrooy still hopes to play at Real

Real Madrid’s Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy, out injured since last November, says he hopes to play next season, although the team’s prospective new management may have other ideas.

“I have another year left on my contract and I am very happy. There isn?t a doubt in my mind that I will stay. I will get better and I will play again at the Santiago Bernabeu” stadium, he said on the club’s website.

“The team?s pre-season begins around the middle of July, and if everything goes as planned I hope to be back in action with the squad in August. I am so anxious to return.”

Van Nistelrooy, who turns 33 in July, underwent an operation in November 2008 on his right knee. The club said he would be out for six to nine months.

The Dutchman, transferred from Manchester United in 2006, has scored 45 goals in league for Real, four of them this season before being injured.

He was the top scorer in the league for 2006-07 with 25 goals in 37 matches.

Elections for a new president of Real are scheduled for June 14, with former head Florentino Perez currently the only candidate.

The Spanish press said Perez hopes to sell most of the club’s Dutch players, Aside from Nistelrooy, these are Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Royston Drenthe, Arjen Robben and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.