Hiddink was manager of PSV Eindhoven and Australia in 2005
Russia boss Guus Hiddink has been approached to take over at Chelsea until the end of the season.
Chelsea hope to confirm the Dutchman's appointment by the weekend after sacking Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday.
Hiddink, 62, who has close links with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, said: "If it was any other club my answer would be a straight 'no'.
"But Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner. I would like to help them if I could."
The Blues take on Championship strugglers Watford in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, and the plan is for Hiddink to be in place in time for the game.
Chelsea have been given permission to negotiate with Hiddink by the Football Union of Russia (FUR), and the BBC has been told by the FUR there is nothing in his contract to prevent him from undertaking two jobs.
"In his contract there isn't any point on which he can't combine two posts, so he can do it. But right now the ball is in Chelsea's court because they must make him some offer. We think that he can do it but now it's his decision," an FUR spokesman told the BBC.
And Chelsea appear prepared to let Hiddink combine the roles.
"We have officially approached the FUR for permission to speak to Guus Hiddink to become the club's temporary coach until the end of the season while continuing to be in charge of the Russian national team," read a statement on Chelsea's official website.
Hiddink had insisted he would not be relinquishing his duties with Russia and is fully committed to helping them qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
"This would only be for the next two or three months until the end of the season," he said.
"I will not leave my job with the Russian national team. It's out of the question.
"When I took the Russia job it was a long-term project and I don't like to leave it unfinished."
The chairman of the board of Russia's National Academy of Football, which is funded by Abramovich, said there would be no conflict of responsibilities between the two roles.
"He can work with Chelsea until the end of the English season and then join up with the national team," said Sergei Kapkov.
Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins is in temporary charge of the team until a new manager is appointed.
Hiddink has the extensive club and international experience Abramovich is searching for having coached PSV Eindhoven, Real Madrid as well as the Netherlands, South Korea and Australia.
And he insists juggling both club and international commitments would not be a problem having previously combined both duties in the past.
"I have already done that a couple of years ago when I was coaching Australia and PSV, so I'm familiar with the situation and what it takes," said Hiddink, who is in Turkey for a training camp with the Russia squad.
Former Rangers star Artur Numan, who played under Hiddink for the Netherlands, told BBC Radio 5 Live that man-management is one of his key strengths.
"He knows exactly what's going on in the dressing room. That's his big quality and why he has been so successful in all the different countries he has worked."
Billionaire Abramovich was instrumental in Hiddink's appointment as Russia manager in 2006.
At the moment we know nothing about the link between Gianfranco Zola and the vacant position at Chelsea
Zola's lawyer Fulvio Marrucco
He was among a host of names linked with the vacant Stamford Bridge job after the surprising dismissal of World Cup-winning coach Scolari.
Former Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, Italians Roberto Mancini, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto di Matteo and Carlo Ancelotti, along with ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant have all been touted as possible successors.
Rijkaard, who left the Nou Camp in May last year, said he would be interested in the vacancy - but would only consider an approach for the start of next season.
"If the job offer is for starting right now, the chances will reduce quite dramatically because he is in a one-year sabbatical and planning to hold on to this," Rijkaard's agent Perry Overeem told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday.
Ancelotti, the longest-serving manager in Serie A with AC Milan, had been linked with a move to west London last summer, but opted to stay at the San Siro.
However, the 49-year-old could be interested if the position is still available in the summer.
"If the position will be open in July then I think he might consider it," said AC Milan's organising director Umberto Gandini.
"He did already have a chance to consider it when he was approached last summer."
Zola and Clarke have made an impressive start at West Ham
Mancini, 44, who has been out of work since being sacked by Inter last summer, has been linked with a move to the London club in recent months.
However, his agent Giorgio de Giorgis said he has had no contact with Chelsea.
De Giorgis told the Italian media: "No-one has contacted us, hence, I exclude the possibility that Mancini will go to Chelsea."
West Ham have warned Chelsea that Zola and number two Steve Clarke, assistant to Jose Mourinho during his three-year reign at Stamford Bridge, are not available.
Italian Zola was voted Chelsea's best-ever player in a 2003 fans' poll, while Clarke served as a player and respected coach for 20 years.
But a West Ham board member told BBC Sport: "We have not received any contact from Chelsea and will not welcome any. They are under contract here for three years and we want them to stay."
Zola's lawyer, Fulvio Marrucco, released a statement insisting no approach had been made from Chelsea.
"At the moment we know nothing about the link between Gianfranco Zola and the vacant position at Chelsea," Marrucco said in a statement.
And MK Dons boss Di Matteo, another fans' favourite at Stamford Bridge, has also distanced himself from any speculation linking him with a return.
"It's flattering that the fans still remember you in good terms. I always had a good relationship with the fans, but that's it as far as I am concerned," he told the MK Dons website.
"I haven't even thought about it. There's a lot that I have to do here, that I want to do here and my ambition is to be successful."
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