Guus Hiddink weighing up whether to be Chelsea’s next manager or sporting director

Guus Hiddink (Turkey manager)

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EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Guus Hiddink will decide whether he wants to be Chelsea’s manager or sporting director before returning from holiday on June 14, Goal.com understands.

The Dutchman is set to take the reins at Stamford Bridge if, as seems likely, his top ally at the Turkish Football Federation – the president – is forced out of his post.

After taking a short break, the 64 year-old will return in one week ready to negotiate his departure from his contract as the coach of the Turkish national team.

Hiddink has told friends that his future is tied up with that of TFF president Mahmut Ozgener, who is expected to be replaced when the organisation holds elections on June 28.

It is possible that Ozgener will not even stand for re-election, which will clear the path for Hiddink to secure his release from a contract said to be worth £4 million-a-year.

Chelsea are increasingly optimistic that Hiddink will re-join the club that he led for a temporary period in 2009 following the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari.

However, it is not certain that he will take over the managerial position left vacant by Carlo Ancelotti’s dismissal within an hour of the end of the Premier League season.

Sources close to the Dutchman say he is strongly attracted to the sporting director role occupied by Frank Arnesen until a fortnight ago, even though he has pointed out that at 64 he is not too old to coach.

A third scenario is that Hiddink will be appointed as manager for an interim period and groom a younger coach such as Gianfranco Zola or Marco van Basten to eventually take over from him before moving upstairs.

These possibilities will form the basis of informal talks with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich that is set to result in Hiddink returning to the club in a senior capacity by mid-June.

Abramovich is believed to favour the most successful Dutch manager in history taking over as manager with full responsibility for team affairs, as he did two years ago. Hiddink has continued to work as an informal adviser to the Russian billionaire in the intervening period.

The Premier League club want their new coaching and executive set-up in place before the first-team return to training on July 4. The club play three friendlies in Europe before heading off to Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong on a pre-season tour.

The TFF have denied that they have agreed terms for Hiddink to leave and that any potential negotiations with Chelsea will have to wait until Ozgener returns from holiday next week.

“There is nothing official happening because both parties are away,” TFF spokesman Turker Tozar said.

“Mr Hiddink is on holiday now and the president is on holiday for a week as well – nothing can happen at the moment.”

Hiddink does not want to walk out on Turkey and his preference is for Chelsea to agree a compensation package with the national federation so he can depart on good terms.

Hiddink also has an offer from Ajax of a senior technical role on the table but the Dutch club are not in a position to pay the £4m compensation that Turkey will demand or compete with the salary package that Abramovich will be able to pay.

Should the deal for Hiddink fall through, Stamford Bridge senior officials have drawn up a shortlist of candidates headed by Mark Hughes, who is available after walking out on Fulham last week.