Guus Hiddink has re-emerged as a potential candidate to take over at managerless Leeds United should the Elland Road club fail to entice their first choice, Celtic's Martin O'Neill, back to the Premiership.

The Dutchman, fresh from his startling success in taking South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals, had been expected to take over at his former club PSV Eindhoven. But, with Leeds biding their time before making an official approach to Celtic, the 57-year-old's representatives contacted the Yorkshire club's chairman Peter Ridsdale to declare an interest in filling the void left by the sacked David O'Leary.

Hiddink, who won four Dutch league titles and a European Cup with PSV in the late 1980s and has since coached Real Madrid, Valencia and Holland, intends to remain as an adviser to South Korea for two more years but would be available to coach full-time at Elland Road.

He was presented with honorary Korean citizenship earlier this week but, while PSV remain privately confident he will take up the reins at the Philips Stadium, the coach stressed: "I will speak with Eindhoven next week and we'll see then, not before."

"We are waiting for him to return home so we can talk to him about the possibility of becoming our new coach," confirmed the PSV spokesperson Pedro Salazar-Hewitt. "We don't expect him to be back before Friday because of the celebrations in Korea. Our club approached him before the World Cup and we are confident he will sign. However, we know that because of what happened in the World Cup things can change."

Leeds's priority remains O'Neill, with an official approach expected in the next 48 hours. "We have still not made an approach to any club, but that should certainly happen by the end of the week," said Ridsdale, who does not anticipate off-loading any fringe Leeds players until a new manager has been appointed.

"Whether or not we accept bids in our current state without a manager depends on who the players are and what the offers are," he added. "I would not expect a great deal of transfer activity until a manager has been appointed to the club.

"There are a number of things bubbling away on the transfer front but nothing that we expect to happen in the immediate future."

With regard to Sunderland's attempt to sign Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane, Ridsdale said: "We accepted an offer from Sunderland and we felt it was only right that we gave Robbie the chance to speak with them and see what they had to offer. He has turned down the move and so be it."

The fact that Leeds were willing to sell a player without a manager being installed took many people by surprise.