Turkey coach Guus Hiddink has dropped the biggest hint yet that he is ready to return to Chelsea.
Hiddink said that his spell at Chelsea was a "beautiful time in my life" and smiled when he was told by English journalists that captain John Terry had expressed his pleasure at a possible return for the man who took the club to an FA Cup triumph.
"Is he the president of Chelsea now?" he laughed.
With Turkey not playing again until September, Chelsea are expected to ask the Turkish FA to release Hiddink from his contract.
Asked if he would ever manager Turkey again, Hiddink said: "I can't answer that. Everything is fluid. My time at Chelsea was a beautiful time. Everybody knows that.
"I still have a contract with Turkey but at my age when some issues come up, you always have to talk about them. At my age, most of my story is behind me."
Hiddink was tetchy when asked about his future by Turkish journalists but softened noticeably when approached later in the Heysel Stadium by English media.
"I hope you understand that this is difficult and I need people to respect that," he added. "I am going on holiday now and I have a plane to catch."
