Recent rumors have emerged that one-time Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC manager Marcello Lippi could return to coach his former Chinese Super League squad next season.

The 68-year-old Italian mentor, who held the reins of the Southern China Tigers from 2012 to early 2015 before he resigned in February of last year after winning three straight CSL titles and an AFC Champions League crown, reportedly received an offer to come back and coach the squad next year as current boss Luiz Felipe Scolari had been struggling in the past few games.

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Scolari replaced Lippi as Guangzhou manager in the summer of 2015 and had led the team to one CSL and one AFC Champions League title as well.

However, the 67-year-old Brazilian 2002 World Cup-winning head coach failed to spearhead his squad to the knockout stage of this year's ACL while being winless in five of their last six domestic matches, as per Soccerway.

CSL's second-running team Jiangsu Suning FC had cut down Guangzhou's lead in the overall standings to only six points as a result, with only seven games remaining before the season ends.

With that, Evergrande is at risk of snapping their five-year reign as champions in the China top flight competitions if they will not be able to finish strong this term.

Football Italia reported that Lippi is "set for a return to Guangzhou Evergrande after his options with the Azzurri fell through".

Lippi, who is also a World Cup-winning manager with the Italy national team in 2006, was said to be "lined up for a role as technical director of the Italian Nazionale", but had turned down the offer because of a deemed "conflict of interests related to his son Davide".

Evergrande recently inquired Lippi if he would consider coming back to coach the Southern China Tigers and the Italian said to have responded "favorably" to the offer.

If the deal pushes through, Lippi will take over from Scolari before the 2017 CSL season starts in February next year.

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League rumors, Marcello Lippi, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC