Though his career once appeared to be in jeopardy due to a serious injury, Ruud van Nistelrooy ultimately recovered to become one of the most prolific strikers of the 2000s.
After excelling with Den Bosch, Heerenveen and PSV Eindhoven, Van Nistelrooy was set to join Manchester United in the summer of 2000 before a cruciate ligament injury left him on the sidelines for a year.
Despite concerns surrounding his fitness, the deal was revived the following summer and Van Nistelrooy immediately set about announcing his arrival in English football.
In his maiden campaign the Dutchman netted 36 times in all competitions, and he maintained that consistency throughout his five-season spell at the club - only failing to manage to reach the 20-goal mark in the 2004-05 season when he was ravaged by injury.
While he would later go on to enjoy spells at Real Madrid, Hamburg and Malaga, Van Nistelrooy is best remembered for his time in the Premier League and perhaps unsurprisingly all ten of his most common team-mates during his career also played for United.
Of those, the player that made the most career appearances alongside Van Nistelrooy is French defender Mikael Silvestre.
From their first appearance together in the 2001 Community Shield to their final in a goalless draw with Middlesbrough five years later, Van Nistelrooy and Silvestre shared the pitch on 188 occasions.
The only player to feature on the list to have played alongside Van Nistelrooy at more than one club is David Beckham, with the pair reunited after they both made the move to the Spanish capital to join Real Madrid.
But who else makes up the remainder of the top ten? Read on to find out.
Top teammates - Van Nistelrooy
- 10. Phil Neville - 106
- 9. David Beckham - 109
- 8. Wes Brown - 117
- 7. Roy Keane - 132
- 6. Rio Ferdinand - 132
- 5. John O'Shea - 137
- 4. Gary Neville - 158
- 3. Paul Scholes - 165
- 2. Ryan Giggs - 175
- 1. Mikael Silvestre - 188
