Ten Hag back to his roots from next season

Jan 7 : Former ‌Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is to return to his old club FC Twente as technical director from next season, the club has announced.

The Dutchman has signed a contract until mid-2028, returning to the club where he began his playing career in 1989 and ended it in 2002.

The 55-year-old ‌will join the Enschede club on February 1 ‌and succeed technical director Jan Streuer, who retires at the end of the season.

"I think it's wonderful and special to return to FC Twente, where I've been a supporter since I was a young boy," Ten Hag said in a statement on the club's website.

"My ‍football career began here. With my experience in youth development, team building, and elite sports culture, I want to strengthen FC Twente's technical foundation so that the club can sustainably realise its potential as a regional ​flagship."

After retiring as a player ‌at Twente, Ten Hag became head of the youth academy and then assistant manager before going on to coach ​at Go Ahead Eagles, FC Utrecht, Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester United, who fired ⁠him in October 2024.

He became ‌Bayer Leverkusen coach last year, making a return to Germany where ​he had already spent two seasons as coach of Bayern Munich's reserves from 2013 to 2015.

But his contract with ‍Leverkusen was terminated after just two Bundesliga matches, a record in Germany. ⁠Ajax approached Ten Hag in November about succeeding sacked coach John Heitinga, but ​he said he had ‌no interest in returning to Amsterdam.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson ‍in ​Rabat; Editing by Christian Radnedge)