Hamburg keen to recruit Croatia mentor Bilic
Croatian Soccer Association wants coach to stay
Hamburg SV have put Croatia coach Slaven Bilic on top of their wish-list and the Bundesliga club are keen to sign him immediately after the Euro 2008 tournament in June, the Jutarnji List daily reported yesterday.
"They made it clear that they want me to take over the team from this summer.
"However, we haven't talked about any concrete details yet," Bilic told the popular daily.
Bilic said he was also in talks with the Croatian Soccer Association (HNS) about his coaching future.
"I wouldn't like to use the media as a means of communication with my employer and anyhow, there is nothing new yet.
"It is true that the Hamburg offer is an honour for me," Bilic said.
HNS president Vlatko Markovic said earlier this month he would like to keep Bilic at the helm but was aware that the 39-year-old former international defender would receive more lucrative offers from European clubs.
Bilic took over as coach after the 2006 World Cup and led the country to top spot in their qualifying group for this year's European Championship in Austria and Switzerland, ahead of Russia and England.
Croatia face Austria, Poland and Germany in Group B at the June 7-29 tournament.
Hamburg are second in the German championship, five points behind leaders Bayern Munich, and their Dutch coach Huub Stevens is leaving to take over at PSV Eindhoven at the end of the season.