Russia coach Guus Hiddink is in talks with Chelsea over taking over as their new manager.
Russia coach in talks to take over until end of season
Russia coach Guus Hiddink is in talks with Chelsea over succeeding Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new manager.
The Dutchman is currently in Turkey where he is on a training camp with his Russia side and is not due to fly back until Wednesday.
The former PSV boss admitted that Chelsea had approached him regarding the vacant position but with a view to agreeing a role up until the end of the season.
A short-term deal may suit Hiddink as he has made no secret of his wish to lead Russia to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Earlier, Hiddink's agent had played down any move to Stamford Bridge but the 62-year-old has now expressed a desire to help the West London club.
Interested
"I must say that this is an exceptional situation," he told
Reuters.
"If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight 'no'.
"But Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner. So I would like to help them in this situation if I could.
"But this would only be for the next two or three months until the end of the season.
"Of course when Russia would play (World Cup qualifiers) I would go there to coach them during that (international window) as there won't be any (league) games during that time.
Contract
"I have already done that (combining two jobs) a couple of years ago when I was coaching Australia and PSV (Eindhoven), so I'm familiar with the situation and what it takes.
"I will not leave my job with the Russian national team. It's out of the question.
"When I took the Russia job it was a long-term project and I don't like to leave it unfinished."
Hiddink explained how the talks came about but admitted that before he makes any decision he will speak to Russian football chief Vitaly Mutko.
"I did get a phone call from them (Chelsea management) and we discussed the situation but we haven't come to a final decision just yet.
"But the situation can change any day or even any hour.
"I was planning to fly to Europe from Turkey at the end of the training camp (on Wednesday) but I can change that and I can go directly to Moscow to meet with Mutko.
"In any case, we'll meet in the next few days and will talk about the whole thing."
