Ajax Reaches Accord for Henk ten Cate to Join Chelsea
AFC Ajax NV said it reached an agreement with Chelsea to allow manager Henk ten Cate to quit the 29-time Dutch soccer champion and join the coaching staff of the London-based team.
Ten Cate, 52, asked permission last week to begin negotiations with Chelsea, which is looking to bolster its management team under new head coach Avram Grant.
Ajax said in a statement today that it is now up to Ten Cate and Chelsea to agree on terms, with the club saying it does not expect this to take much time. Chelsea spokesman Simon Taylor said his club had no comment.
Ten Cate will organize coaching at Chelsea, while Grant will still have input into team selection and tactics, the Sun reported on Oct. 4. Grant, originally appointed by Chelsea as its director of football in July, replaced Jose Mourinho as manager on Sept. 20.
Ten Cate joined Ajax in 2006 from Barcelona, where he was the assistant to Frank Rijkaard. He led Ajax to second in the Dutch league last season, missing out to PSV Eindhoven for the title on goal difference.
The Amsterdam club this season lost in qualifying for the Champions League group stage and was ousted last week in the first round of Europe second-tier UEFA Cup by Dinamo Zagreb.
It also failed in the Champions League preliminaries last season.
Champions League
Chelsea tops its Champions League group following a 2-1 victory at Valencia on Oct. 3. It yesterday won 1-0 against Bolton for its first Premier League success under Grant.
Chelsea, which won the F.A. and League Cup titles last season, is aiming to regain the Premier League title from Manchester United. It also last season lost in the Champions League semifinals for a third time in four years.
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