Marcello Lippi, world champion coach of Italy in 2006, became the new coach of Guangzhou Evergrande, the richest soccer team in China football league, announced Thursday the club based in Canton.
“The contract has a term of two and a half years,” said the club said in a statement. Mr. Lippi replaces South Korea’s Lee Yang-soo. This recruitment, a few months after that of the French Nicolas Anelka in Shanghai, confirms the growing financial power of the Chinese championship, however, undermined by corruption scandals.
The arrival of Lippi, already announced Wednesday by the Italian press, was made official during a press conference in Guangzhou, in his presence. Lippi said he was “enthusiastic” to the idea of an officer in the Chinese “Super League”. He might have signed for 10 million euros per year, according to “Gazzetta dello Sport”.
Last season, the Guangzhou Evergrande had recruited Dario Conca from Fluminense, offering him a salary of about 10 million euros a year as he never had from Argentina. The club is also preparing to welcome Lucas Barrios, double champion of Germany from Borussia Dortmund.