Hiddink inks deal with Anzhi

Guus Hiddink has signed a contract to become the new manager of Russian Premier League club Anzhi Makhachkala.

According to Goal.com, the Dutchman has agreed an 18-month deal to take over the wealthy club, which is his first permanent club post in six years.

It is expected that the appointment will be announced within the next 24 hours and that Hiddink will join up with the Anzhi squad at a training camp in Turkey.

This is likely to have considerable repercussions for the security of Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas, as it ends the availability of someone trusted by Roman Abramovoch to take over at short notice.

Hiddink has been in Moscow to thrash out the details of the package – which reports in the Netherlands have suggested will be worth 10 million euros a year – with Anzhi chiefs.

It is understood that one of the sticking points when the two parties held talks before Christmas was Hiddink’s insistence that the club put in place a youth academy.

But that hurdle has now been cleared and Hiddink, who is comfortable with life in Russia after managing the national team for four years, will be handed a vast budget to bring in the players to win the Russian league and make an impact on the European stage.

Hiddink has been out of the game since stepping down as Turkey manager last November following the country’s failure to qualify for Euro 2012.

One of the most successful Dutch coaches in history has been in demand in recent weeks, with PSV, where he had two trophy-laden spells, keen to make him an offer to return in the summer for a third time.

Chelsea and England had also been monitoring his availability.