Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has revealed he rejected an offer to take over newly-crowned Premier League champions Leicester City in the summer of 2015.
Leicester parted ways with Nigel Pearson last year after a several controversies at the tail-end of last season as well as over the summer.
The decision was met with criticism in view of the fact Pearson guided Leicester to a 14th-place finish, keeping them in the Premier League.
Claudio Ranieri was announced as manager of Leicester shortly after, which aside from surprising many, very nearly never happened.
Hiddink, who had just left his post in charge of the Netherlands when Leicester were looking for a new manager, has revealed that the Foxes did make an approach for him before they turned to Ranieri.
The 69-year-old wanted a break from the game, he admits, something which lasted only six months before Chelsea approached him to take over from Jose Mourinho for the remainder of the season.
“It is true that Leicester asked me (to be their coach) for this season,” Hiddink told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
“But I had decided this was a time for rest, and I wanted to do just nothing.”
While in hindsight Hiddink turning down the Leicester job might be seen as the wrong move – Ranieri’s side were crowned Premier League champions on Monday night – things could have been different for the East Midlands outfit were he at the helm instead of the Italian coach.
It would have been Hiddink’s first permanent job as manager in England, with both his spells at Chelsea having taken the form of interim position.
COMMENTS