Source: Telegraph
Guus Hiddink to advise Chelsea over summer transfers
Hiddink is due to leave Chelsea at the end of the season to resume his work as full-time Russia coach, but will be invited to give his opinions over the development of an ageing squad that may need significant surgery later this year.[LNB]"We are going to solicit his views as we think about summer transfers," said chairman Bruce Buck, who also defended the club's recent transfer strategy. "I don't think we make any more mistakes than any other club," he said. "We did look at this over a five-year period. This is not a perfect science." Although Buck believes that Sepp Blatter's 6+5 plan to limit the number of foreign players in a team probably violates European Union law, Chelsea are trying to develop more local players.[LNB] Related ArticlesAnelka out for three weeks[LNB]Premier League title run-in[LNB]Hiddink rues missed opportunity[LNB]Guus Hiddink could stay at Chelsea if Russia fail to reach 2010 World Cup finals[LNB]Fifa Congress backs president Sepp Blatter over 6+5 foreign quota proposal[LNB]John Terry to hold unity meeting with Chelsea team-mates[LNB]"We appreciate it is important to have more English players," Buck said. "We would like to have managers here for a lengthy period of time. We are trying to win as many games and trophies as we can, and we are trying to find a manager who can do that for us in the long term." [LNB]A more immediate selection headache for Chelsea concerns Nicolas Anelka, whom they learned on Monday would be out for about three weeks. The France striker has been playing with a bruised toe in recent matches and has pulled out of the national team squad for their World Cup double-header against Lithuania.[LNB]Anelka was part of the side that lost 1-0 at Tottenham last Saturday and is unlikely to be available for the first leg of Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool, his former club, at Anfield on April 7.[LNB]Goalkeeper Petr Cech argued that Chelsea had to take advantage of the first match being played away from home, with the winners destined to meet Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. "I think the away game will be very important – the mathematics are clear: an away goal can decide this tie," Cech said.[LNB]"I was saying to myself if the irony of fate would work, we would play Barcelona in the quarter-finals and then Liverpool in the semis – and it has turned out to be exactly the opposite case. Maybe it is a pity that Liverpool, Barca and Bayern are all teams we have played against in the Champions League recently. If we should succeed in the Champions League, we can then say we have eliminated the giants of European football." [LNB]
