Russia coach Guus Hiddink has played down the possibility of him becoming the next Chelsea manager.
Hiddink admits he has been in contact with Blues owner Roman Abramovich, but only about his current role as coach of Russia.
“I have met Abramovich five times but we have never discussed the Chelsea job,” Hiddink told The Times.
“We have a project to reshape Russian football by 2014 – given Abramovich’s long-term commitment and vision, it is very unlikely he would disrupt that.”
Hiddink said he would continue to meet with Abramovich, but denied that the Russian billionaire exerted any influence in team selection.
“He is not the type of man to demand things of you, but he is interested to learn how you would do things,” said Hiddink.
“The more you can explain to him, the more appreciative he is.
“And despite his vast wealth, he doesn’t try to abuse his position or status.”
Hiddink was speaking in the wake of Chelsea’s decision to appoint Ajax manager Henk ten Cate as the assistant to current manager Avram Grant.
Hiddink admits that the appointment of Grant in place of teh deaprted Jose Mourinho – was down Abramovich’s desire to see Chelsea play more attractive football.
“At Chelsea, Abramovich has invested a lot of money in players and not so much in longer-term development,” he added.
“And you need to be able to show the world that with the players that they have, you can get results, but that you can also play attractive football. I think he felt that the latter was missing.”
