Ruud van Nistelrooy is back training with Manchester United but Bayern Munich remain confident they will secure his services. The Bundesliga club admit their valuation of the Holland striker falls short of the £15million asking price.

But honorary president Franz Beckenbauer believes there is room for manoeuvre. He is already exploring the possibility of offloading Roy Makaay or Claudio Pizarro should Van Nistelrooy come on board.

Speaking from Bayern's Austrian training camp, Beckenbauer said: "We are €5 million away from Manchester United's valuation but the chances are still high. But if it does work out, I could imagine us giving away Roy Makaay or Claudio Pizarro."

It was widely assumed the 30-year-old would have moved on by now after his massive bust-up with Alex Ferguson prior to the final game of the last campaign against Charlton.

He was then banned from playing in Roy Keane's testimonial.

Van Nistelrooy has indicated to both Bayern and Real Madrid he would be willing to join them. However, mindful of the £29million Chelsea paid AC Milan for Andriy Shevchenko, the Red Devils do not see why they should be railroaded into a deal.

Last week, Ferguson claimed he would have "no problem" if van Nistelrooy was still around when United open their latest assault on the Premiership title against Fulham on August 20th, even though the former PSV Eindhoven man has handed in a written transfer request.

It was the same diplomatic card Van Nistelrooy played following Holland's elimination from the World Cup, when he said that unless his situation changed, he would report for training as required.

However, given the breakdown in relations between player and club, it would have been no surprise if Van Nistelrooy - one of only eight players to score 150 goals for United - had backed out of this morning's session.

Instead, he joined many of his senior team-mates - including Edwin van der Sar, Park Ji-Sung and United's England contingent - at the club's Carrington training ground.

Ferguson was not due in until later, having delayed his departure from South Africa by 24 hours. And, unless an 'arrangement' has been agreed between the pair, it seems highly possible Van Nistelrooy could be involved in the high-profile friendly against Celtic at Parkhead on Wednesday, or the clash with Preston next weekend.