Unai Emery's managerial career started out at the age of 33 in in unusual circumstances.
Emery was playing for Lorca Deportiva in the Segunda B and was suffering from a knee injury when he received a phone call from the club's sporting director offering him the position of first-team coach after the sacking of Quique Yague.
The Basque had a way of reading the game that made his employers believe he had a future in coaching, and at that moment his managerial career began as he took charge of his then team-mates.
No one would have imagined that 15 years later he would be in the dugout at the Camp Nou taking charge of Villarreal in what will be his 800th match as a coach at the top level.
Since Lorca, Emery's glittering career has seen him have spells at Almeria, Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal before joining the Yellow Submarine.
His list of achievements is impressive, with the 48-year-old boasting a promotion to LaLiga SmartBank, another to LaLiga Santander and four Europa League finals, of which he won three, and also lifting every trophy available to him in France with PSG.
He is now overseeing an ambitious project at Villarreal which has seen the club make some impressive signings in a window where teams have had to be more cautious in the face of the financial problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
This gung-ho attitude at Villarreal suits Emery, who has always been fearless and bold as a coach, as shown by the way he's discussed his style of play in the past.
"I prefer to win 5-4 than 1-0", Emery once said in a style similar to Johan Cruyff.
His managerial record is impressive, but his golden era definitely came at Sevilla, where he won three consecutive Europa League titles.
Villarreal are in search of trophies and that's why they're turned to Emery.
After 800 matches as a coach, his contract at his new club could very well take him to that 1000-mark.