Ten Hag had been without a job since getting fired just four games into his tenure as Bayer Leverkusen manager in September. The former Manchester United boss was the leading candidate to succeed John Heitinga at Ajax, but Ten Hag declined the role.
At FC Twente, Ten Hag will take over from 77-year-old Jan Streuer, who will retire at the end of the 2025/26 season. He will be involved in the club's footballing activities before taking over as technical director on July 1st, 2026.
Ten Hag grew up in Haaksbergen, a town bordering FC Twente's hometown of Enschede, and returns to the club he spent 13 seasons at as a youth player and three as an assistant manager.
"I think it's wonderful and special to return to FC Twente, where I have been a supporter since I was a child and used to visit Het Diekman (Twente's former stadium). My football and coaching career began here," Ten Hag said on the club website.
"With my experience in youth development, team building and top-level sport culture, I want to work with the Supervisory Board, management and staff to strengthen FC Twente's technical foundation, so that the club can sustainably realise its potential as a regional flagship."
Rollercoaster career
The 56-year-old started his managerial career at Go Ahead Eagles in 2012, after which he moved to Germany to manage Bayern Munich's reserve team.
FC Utrecht brought Ten Hag back to the Netherlands before Ajax picked him up in December 2017. With the Amsterdam giants, Ten Hag had his best days as manager, winning the league three times, the KNVB Beker twice, the Johan Cruyff Schaal once, and famously reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 2018/19 season.
Ten Hag accepted the Manchester United job in May 2022 and won League Cup and FA Cup titles in back-to-back seasons prior to being fired in October 2024.
Incredible track record
General Manager Dominique Scholten is delighted to welcome Ten Hag back to FC Twente: "Erik has an incredible track record in football, and his bond with FC Twente has always remained very strong. At FC Twente, he was a youth coach, head of training and assistant coach, and then went on to become manager at renowned clubs, both nationally and internationally."
The move came as a surprise to the outside world, but took little time to materialise, Schouten said.
"We have been in regular contact recently, and it quickly became clear from our conversations that there is a great deal of ambition to take FC Twente further. This ambition fits in with the course we recently presented. In it, we raise the bar and further professionalise the football organisation."
One-time Eredivisie champions FC Twente are currently in seventh place in the league. The club failed to qualify for European football after losing the final of the Dutch play-offs 3-2 to AZ.