Football
Liam Twomey, Chelsea correspondent 8y

Chelsea's Guus Hiddink too old for Valencia managerial job

LONDON -- Guus Hiddink has distanced himself from reports linking him with the vacant manager's post at Valencia, and says he will go into youth development consultancy when he leaves Chelsea this summer.

Pako Ayestaran is currently in charge of Valencia on a caretaker basis until the end of the season after Gary Neville was sacked in March, and Hiddink -- along with Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores -- has been linked with the full-time post.

But while he admits he will miss managing Chelsea when he leaves this summer, Hiddink, 69, says he is too old to take another club job and instead wants to pursue his interest in helping academy players at Cobham and elsewhere.

"Quique was my player when I was [Valencia coach] in the early 90s!" Hiddink said when asked about the Valencia reports. "That's a long time ago. I'm not ageing but to go into a job for three or four years, then I'm almost 75. It's time to play also the little ball [golf] and do some consultancy, here or wherever.

"I'm not looking [for a new job]. If someone knocks on the door I'll see what's behind it, but in principle I'm going into what I like very much -- encouraging coaches, young people for them to get the best out of players."

Asked if he will miss being Chelsea manager after he hands over the reins to new first-team head coach Antonio Conte, Hiddink replied: "Of course. First of all I love this club. I'm in my second spell now and when I see the people around me supporting me, and also when we resurrected a bit the prestige of this club, every morning when I wake up I go with a smile to Cobham. I'm going to miss it.

"I won't be [at Chelsea next season] in an official function, but I'm also an advisor of a company that is doing innovations in training methods for academies, educating coaches but also players.

"I arranged a meeting between them and the academy to see what we can do to contribute to a better quality of education for the youngsters. I like to do that and we will also do that for Chelsea."

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