Hiddink talks planned.
Chelsea are to open talks with the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) about releasing manager Guus Hiddink from his contract, The Independent reports.
The 64 year old Hiddink spent three months in charge back in 2009 and led Chelsea to an FA Cup victory during his temporary spell after Luiz Felipe Scolari’s sacking. Hiddink still has a year left to run on his £4m a year job as head of the Turkish national side and the TFF are demanding a compensation fee of £4m for Hiddink.
As a point of principle, Hiddink has refused to break his Turkey contract and has told Chelsea he wants them to agree a compensation package with the TFF, so that he can depart on good terms.
Abramovich is set to favour Hiddink taking over as manager with full responsibility of team affairs, as he did two years ago. Since then, Hiddink has worked as an informal advisor to chairman Abramovich and the Chelsea owner also paid the bulk of Hiddink’s salary when he was Russian national team manager between 2006 and 2010.
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Sturridge nets for U21s.
England under 21s warmed up for their European Championship campaign with a 2-0 victory over Norway, uefa.com reports.
Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge scored the opening goal at Southampton’s St. Mary’s Stadium. Fellow Chelsea teammate Ryan Bertrand applied the assist and Sturridge, who spent the latter half of the season on loan at Premier League side Bolton, scored his fourth goal in 12 under 21 caps.
Fellow Chelsea teammate Jack Cork is also part of the under 21 squad for the Championships and played the whole of the second half. Sturridge is expected to be the main striker for Stuart Pearce’s side at the Championships with Bertrand and Cork playing secondary roles in the squad.
Agent gives Pastore hint.
The agent of Chelsea target and Palermo playmaker Javier Pastore has revealed that the Blues have yet to make any contact about a possible transfer.
The 21 year old’s agent Marcelo Simonian told Italian website calciomercatoweb.net: ‘It could be Chelsea are possibly interested, but I have not had any official contact with the Blues.’
Pastore is one of the hottest talents in football with several big name European sides chasing the signature of the Argentinian attacking midfielder. Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has hinted that Pastore could leave the club in the summer, but the club are unwilling to sell their prize asset cheaply. Zamparani recently insisted he would only let the youngster leave if a club was prepared to offer 60 million euros.
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