Italian coach Fabio Cannavaro is close to be Chinese soccer club Tianjin Quanjian's next coach in place of under-fire Brazilian Vanderlei Luxemburgo, local media reported on Tuesday.
Luxemburgo, the former Brazil and Real Madrid manager, signed last September with the big-spending Chinese club which aims to lock anchor on the Chinese Super League next season, but the Brazilian-led team has been underperforming this season and now sits at a lowly ninth place in the 16-team second division standings after 11 rounds.
The second-tier club will make a decision on whether Luxemburgo stays or not on Wednesday.
Local media said Chinese Super League champion Guangzhou Evergrande's former coach Cannavaro, 42, might take the helm at Tianjin.
The former World Footballer of the Year took charge of Guangzhou in November 2014 and was sacked last June, replaced by Brazil's Felipe Scolari. With Cannavaro at the rein, Guangzhou had 11 wins, six draws and six losses in 23 matches. After the Chinese job, Cannavaro went on to coach Saudi Arabian champion Al Nassr.
As a player, Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards after captaining Italy to lift the 2006 World Cup.
