John Terry would welcome the reappointment of Guus Hiddink as Chelsea manager and believes the Dutchman's return to the club would provide some much-needed stability.

Hiddink is expected to leave his position with Turkey after expressing a desire to return to day-to-day club management, with Chelsea having earmarked him as their first choice to succeed Carlo Ancelotti. The club had been forced to wait until after Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier in Belgium, which Turkey drew 1-1, but will now seek to agree a compensation package with the Turkish Football Federation to extricate the 64-year-old from the final year of his contract in Istanbul.

Hiddink, who has advised Chelsea on an unpaid basis over the past two years, will be charged with overseeing a summer of restructuring at Stamford Bridge, with his return to be warmly received by the senior playing staff. "I'd like to see him back and I think most of the lads would," Terry said. "He's obviously a very good guy, and someone I've been in contact with since he left as well, on a personal level. The fact that he knows us and the club means he'll hit the ground running. He knows what the players are about, what our strengths and weaknesses are, even the training schedules.

"Last time he brought a lot of stability. He was a no-nonsense manager – even with the senior players – and was respected. If players turned up late for meetings, he'd leave them out of the side. No matter who it was. That was Guus, his type of character. He's very understandable and approachable as well but, at the same time, he had that edge to him that made sure no one messed with him. He was only there for a short space of time, and sometimes that can be easier, but he loves the day-to-day stuff."

Hiddink's three-month spell in charge as interim manager, following Luiz Felipe Scolari's sacking in February 2009, saw Chelsea accrue 34 points from a possible 39, reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and win the FA Cup. He had shared his duties with those as Russia's national manager at the time but has already indicated that such a job share would not be possible with the Turkey role, particularly given the size of the task ahead at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea will attempt to shed as many as five senior players this summer – the youth-team product Jacopo Sala has joined Michael Mancienne in following the former sporting director Frank Arnesen to Hamburg – and intend to make eye‑catching signings of their own as they build on the £73.1m purchases of Fernando Torres and David Luiz in January. The hope is that Hiddink will help implement those changes as manager, though he could yet adopt a role as director of football in the future.

There was regret expressed by Terry, however, at Ancelotti's removal after only two years at the club. "I was really sad to see Carlo go," the centre-half said. "I had two great years with him, actually, so I'm disappointed to see him go. I'd said last year that, ideally, it would have been nice had Carlo stayed for three or four years and we could be settled around him. Given what he achieved, he feels a little bit hard done by. But that's football and he understands that. He loves the football club. He's stressed with me that he'll come back and watch the guys next year. But, as a group of players, we're professional and we'll get on with it like we have in the past over the years."