Marcello Lippi moved a step closer to becoming the new head coach of China on Saturday after Guangzhou Evergrande announced they had terminated their agreement with the World Cup winning Italian to take over at the club next year.
Guangzhou released a statement on the club's official website stating that the agreement -- which the club had previously refused to comment on publicly, but was signed on Aug. 3 -- for the 68-year-old to take over at the former Asian champions next season had been cancelled.
"We hereby announce that, after friendly discussions with Mr. Marcello Lippi, the contract regarding Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club's head coach position between Guangzhou Evergrande FC and Mr Lippi, which was signed on August 3, 2016, has been rescinded," it read.
Lippi had been lined up to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari next year, but the Italian now looks likely to take over as Gao Hongbo's replacement at the head of the troubled China national team.
The former Juventus coach met with Chinese Football Association (CFA) president Cai Zhenhua alongside the president of the Evergrande Corporation, Xu Jiayin, in Beijing and is now expected to sign a four-year contract on Monday.
Lippi will take over a national team that has struggled so far in Asia's final round of qualifying for Russia 2018, having picked up just one point over the last four games -- a run of form that forced Gao to quit.
The Italian, though, is reported to have been offered a broader remit and the role is likely to include helping to overhaul the entire structure of Chinese football.