HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Fabio Cannavaro has been appointed head coach of seven-time Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande, the club announced on Thursday (Nov 9).

The Italian replaces Luiz Felipe Scolari, who left following the completion of his contract, having guided Evergrande to the last three CSL titles and the 2015 Asian Champions League crown.

"Due to the needs of the club's strategic development and, after thorough research, we have decided to appoint Fabio Cannavaro as head coach," the club said on its official social media outlet.

Cannavaro returns to the club having previously spent a seven-month stint with Guangzhou when he took over from Marcello Lippi in late 2014, only to be fired in June the following year and replaced by Scolari.

The 44-year-old World Cup-winning defender has since rebuilt his coaching career, taking over at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia before returning to China to steer Tianjin Quanjian to the second division title last year.

Cannavaro led Tianjin to third place in the just-completed CSL season, guiding them to the Asian Champions League for the first time, before resigning at the start of the week.