Guus Hiddink visits with Conte at Chelsea, jokes ensue

Twice interim manager Guus Hiddink “popped-in” to Cobham on Thursday — the pop-in! — to “catch up with some old friends” and chat with Antonio Conte. Innocent enough, right?

The Mail of course think it’s somehow related to the job vacancy at Inter Milan, who recently sacked Frank de Boer. I don’t quite follow that logic (what’s Conte got to do with Inter?) but whatever, it’s certainly not the most sinister interpretation.

With everyone rather tight-lipped about the whole thing — not that it’s any of our business, in fairness — we were left to our own devices to figure out what they may have been talking about.

And so, the jokes ensued, with Hiddink probably wondering which dark corner of Cobham a certain Mikel John Obi was hiding in.

Unconfirmed reports that I definitely didn’t just make up claim that Hiddink made at least seven mentions of saving Chelsea from relegation last season, lest we forget, before leaving in a cloud of burnt rubber on his blue Vespa, which is no way was discarded five minutes after sitting on it awkwardly on stage that one time.

But for the real jokes, let’s see what the hooligans over in The Daily Hilario came up with.

Already heard that one, SoNoGo!

In all seriousness, despite being a semi-peripheral figure to last season’s train-wreck, Mother Guus will no doubt always be welcomed back at Chelsea. Hiddink’s few months of calm after the turmoil of Mourinho’s final days weren’t spectacular by any means, but it was perhaps a decent outcome in what looked to be quickly devolving into an impossible situation.

He didn’t quite manage to be the fixer that he was back in 2009, but by all accounts he has been and no doubt remains a trusted advisor and friend to Abramovich & Co — though his supposed involvement in the youth program at Chelsea hasn’t yet come to fruition, possibly because it would appear that he hasn’t actually retired yet.

In any case, good luck in whatever the future holds, Guus Hiddink!