New deal to keep Clarke at Chelsea - Sport - Evening Standard
       

New deal to keep Clarke at Chelsea

Steve Clarke looks set to stay at Chelsea after agreeing a reported £500,000-a-year deal to work with Henk ten Cate.

Jose Mourinho's No2 was the only coach to remain following the Special One's departure and held a series of meetings yesterday to thrash out his future.

New deal: Steve Clarke is set to stay at Chelsea

Avram Grant has been keen to stress that he wanted Clarke to stay and continue the process started under Mourinho.

The 44-year-old Scot is believed to have been told his knowledge of British football was essential in the new set-up and that he will have equal status with Ten Cate.

Clarke will have a vital role to play in convincing the players that Grant can replace Mourinho in the long-term.

That will be even more important for Roman Abramovich after Guus Hiddink revealed he is "very unlikely" to take over at Stamford Bridge.

The Russia coach said today: "I know that you can never say never in football, but that option [being Chelsea coach] would not have made sense.

"We have a project to reshape Russian football by 2014, with the 2010 World Cup as the first phase. Given Abramovich's long-term commitment and vision, it seems very unlikely that he would try to disrupt that process."

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