Hiddink Signs 10 M Euro Deal With Anzhi - Report

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Former Russia coach Guus Hiddink has signed a contract to coach Anzhi Makhachkala, becoming the latest global name to arrive at the newly rich club from Dagestan, Dutch magazine Voetbal International reported Friday.

Former Russia coach Guus Hiddink has signed a contract to coach Anzhi Makhachkala, becoming the latest global name to arrive at the newly rich club from Dagestan, Dutch magazine Voetbal International reported Friday.

The contract, reportedly worth at least ten million euros a year, could make the 65-year-old Dutchman the world’s highest-earning football coach along with Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.

Voetbal International said Hiddink's role at Anzhi would be similar to that of Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, suggesting Hiddink would have full control over club transfers, a rarity in Russian football.

Anzhi owner Suleiman Kerimov fired Yuri Krasnozhan last week. The former Lokomotiv Moscow coach had been in the job only two months and was yet to oversee a competitive match.

Fabio Capello had been linked with the vacant post at Anzhi since resigning as England coach earlier this month.

Hiddink, who was linked to the England job, is best known for getting the South Korean national side to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, Russia to the quarterfinals of Euro 2008, and helping Australia reach and progress to the knockout stages of their first-ever World Cup in 2006.

Since Kerimov bought Anzhi, previously a modest club, in January 2011, he has rocked the football world by persuading superstars such as Brazil’s Roberto Carlos and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o to come and play in Russia, hardly one of Europe’s glamour leagues.

The Dagestan-born businessman has shelled out world record wages for the acquisitions, paying Eto’o a reported 20 million euros a year.

Kerimov is notorious for wanting quick success and fired the first coach he appointed, Gadzhi Gadzhiev, in September despite his anchoring the club in mid-table, far above any previous achievements.

Hiddink will be expected to secure some form of European qualification for Anzhi, currently in seventh and 13 points off Zenit St. Petersburg’s lead.

With 14 games remaining, Anzhi could still qualify for the Champions League. They are six points adrift of Dynamo Moscow, who occupy the last of three qualification slots.

Krasnozhan was reported in the Russian press to have fallen out with Kerimov over Roberto Carlos' influence over team affairs.

 

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