Erik ten Hag unrecognisable in his days playing for Man Utd opponents FC Twente

Erik ten Hag faces a familiar foe on Wednesday night (Picture: Getty Images)

Erik ten Hag will have an emotional reunion with the club he used to play for when Manchester United take on FC Twente in the Europa League on Wednesday night.

The 54-year-old came through the youth set-up at Twente and made his senior debut with the club.

After leaving in 1990, Ten Hag returned for two more spells playing for FC Twente, with the third and final one the longest from 96-02.

When his playing career finished in 2002 he moved into coaching at Twente, working with the Under-17 and then Under-19 teams.

There was an early Manchester United connection as Steve McClaren took charge of the first team in 2009 as Ten Hag worked with the academy.

The current Red Devils boss made over 200 appearances for Twente, captained the side and says his proudest moment as a player was lifting the KNVB Cup with them in 2001.

Unsurprisingly the Manchester United boss looked a bit different in his playing days back in his home country, when he still sported a hairstyle and hadn’t grown a greying beard.

Erik ten Hag at the start of his third FC Twente spell in 1996 (Picture: Getty Images)

Obviously it will be an emotional evening for him as he welcomes his former club to Old Trafford on Wednesday, not relishing his task of beating them.

‘I would have preferred to play against somebody else. It’s not nice to hurt something you love,’ he said.

Ten Hag was a centre-back in his playing days (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Of all the teams, Twente is the team I follow the most. I watch them as a fan, as a supporter, not as an analyst. It’s a different way of watching their games.

‘Twente brought me a lot, I was put through their academy, so for me great deal of history there.’

Ten Hag after winning the KNVB Cup in 2001 (Picture: SBS)

Ten Hag’s former FC Twente teammate Leon ten Voorde told Sky Sports of how obvious it was he would become a manager from a young age.

‘You could back then already see a coach in him, he was always captain,’ Ten Voorde said. ‘When we watched football at a young age he always knew what should happen. He’s always kept that know-it-all attitude.

‘That was not always popular with the players because he was not the best player.

‘When you are not the best player, it is hard for the better players to accept it. But he was thinking like a coach and the truth is that he always had the best tactical thoughts.’

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