Chelsea have confirmed they have reached agreement with Ajax for the release of Henk Ten Cate and expect to announce his appointment to their coaching staff in the next 24 hours.
According to the club's website, Ten Cate is set to be unveiled as assistant first-team coach at Stamford Bridge.
The 52-year-old Dutchman quit as Ajax boss on Monday and is set to team up with Chelsea manager Avram Grant and assistant Steve Clarke.
Grant, who previously worked under compatriot Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, is still looking for a fitness coach, a goalkeeping coach and a scout.
But Clarke and Ten Cate will be the two men responsible for first-team affairs under him at the Barclays Premier League club.
Ten Cate is credited with moulding the tactical system which turned Rijkaard's side into Europe's most attractive team in recent years.
His exit from the Amsterdam club may not be much mourned by their fans after the club crashed out of the Champions League and Uefa Cup within the space of a few weeks, but Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will surely be more attracted to the section of his CV dealing with his period at the Nou Camp.
Ten Cate teamed up with compatriot Rijkaard and enjoyed enormous success, winning two Spanish league titles, two Spanish Super Cups and the 2006 Champions League in rip-roaring style.
Seen as a no-nonsense coach, some say it is no coincidence that Ronaldinho played his best football and looked in his best physical condition for Barca during Ten Cate's spell in Catalonia.
Ten Cate enjoyed a modest playing career as a speedy winger, making just over 200 appearances, mostly for Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles.
He also had spells with Edmonton Drillers in Canada and Telstar and Heracles in his native Holland.
Born in Amsterdam on December 9th, 1954, Ten Cate began coaching as an assistant with Go Ahead Eagles, before he was given the top job in 1990. Not one to sit still for long, Ten Cate moved on to SC Heracles, FC Rheden and then returned to the Eagles.
It was on his return to the Deventer club in 1993 that Ten Cate joked to the press: "In 10 years' time I will be in charge of Ajax."
It seemed unlikely in 1995 when Ten Cate was fired for the first time after a bust-up with the board, but he soon found work again at Sparta Rotterdam before a season in charge of Vitesse Arnhem.
He was also fired at Vitesse, apparently he was 'too emotional' for chairman Karel Aalbers, despite having taken Vitesse to their best league finish.
In 1998 he went to manage abroad, a disastrous spell with German outfit KFC Uerdingen was followed by his first major trophy with Hungarian side MTK Hungaria, where he led them to the Hungarian cup and a runners-up spot in the league.
After a spell in charge of NAC Breda, whom he led to a Uefa Cup place, Ten Cate took up the assistant coach role at Barcelona. After three years at Barca, and three years later than he had predicted, Ten Cate was given the top job at Ajax.
His time with the Amsterdam club was mixed, to say the least. They missed out on the Eredivisie title last season on goal difference to PSV Eindhoven, and began the new campaign by missing out on the group stages of both the Champions League and the Uefa Cup, losing to Slavia Prague and Dinamo Zagreb respectively, having also failed to get to the Champions League group stage last season.
