The 44-year-old still counts Kitchee president Ken Ng Kin as a personal friend. But, tapping into that experience from 2018, Forlan admitted the club is playing with a weak hand in comparison to its Asian rivals, and that Hong Kong football faces an ongoing struggle to keep pace with established countries in the region.

“I had a beautiful time with my family and with Kitchee, the fans were really good to me, gentle, and it is always nice to be in Hong Kong,” Forlan said. “Mr Ng is doing a really good job and working hard and Kitchee is the main club in the city.

“But in Uruguay, you have pitches everywhere, you can train and play every day and everywhere, with friends and alone, not only as a team or in school. Here, with so many buildings and the tiny spaces, it is difficult for the youngsters to play every day.

“There are a lot of kids and there must be a lot of talent but it is tough to develop these players and to compete at a high level against Chinese, Japanese and Korean players.

“I don’t know politically the reasons for football not being as good as it was many years ago. But I hope in future more kids will play. If you have more kids, more teams and more competition, they will get better. It is the only way to improve.”

United’s under-16s will play fixtures against the Hong Kong under-18s, and a Hong Kong Youth Select Team, on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively, at Mong Kok Stadium, the venue where Forlan’s time in the city came to an end as he lifted the Premier League trophy.

Ahead of the first game this week, players from both contingents took part in a training session on Tuesday at the Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre, with Forlan watching on.

He recalled his own embryonic career, which took him to AS Nancy in France for an extended and ultimately failed trial. He duly joined Independiente in Argentina and gradually learned to manage the nerves that would accompany him ahead of crunch fixtures, in a career which emphatically lifted off when he left United in 2004 after netting 17 goals in 97 appearance – 37 starts – in two-and-a-half years with the club.

Forlan scored goals by the bucketload for Villarreal and fellow La Liga team Atletico Madrid across seven years in Spain. He subsequently spent time with Internazionale in Italy before embarking on something of a global tour beginning in Brazil with Internacional, featuring stops in Japan, Uruguay and India, and finishing with Kitchee.

Speaking to the Post from pitchside in Tseung Kwan O, Forlan urged the young players to seize their “unique” chance this week.

“This is a big opportunity for the Manchester United players to come so far away and for the Hong Kong team to play against a big club,” Forlan said.

“As a kid, I had to go by myself to Nancy when I was 16 too, but never had the chance to travel with a team and have this experience in a different environment. This opportunity to play against different teams, in different countries, is something beautiful.

“I really enjoyed my career but, of course, there were moments I felt the pressure and needed to win. These players might be nervous. It is a beautiful stadium, small and cosy, and there will be a lot of people watching.

“It will be different from what they are used to, some will not play how they would normally, because of nerves. But they have to experience this moment, to see what they are doing wrong and improve.

“It [prematch anxiety] happened to me so many times. If you didn’t do well because you were nervous, you had to get past it and improve for the next game. Everyone has to experience it a few times, so as a professional they manage nerves every weekend.”