On May 4, Beijing time zone, media personality Li Xuan took to her social media platform to hotly discuss Guangzhou's staffing for the new season and the direction of Li Xiaopeng's career. She revealed that although national team assistant coach Zheng Zhi has yet to sign a new contract, his future will depend on the decision of the General Administration of Sport. Li Xiaopeng himself seems to be interested in making adjustments at this juncture.
Li Xuan commented thus:
Zheng Zhi did not appear in the list of the new season of Guangzhou team, this change has long been revealed.
Fu Bo and Liu Zhiyu's partnership is similar to the combination of Zheng Zhi and Liu Zhiyu at the end of last year's season, and Fu Bo's return actually signals the Guangzhou team's preparation for Zheng Zhi's departure.
Zheng Zhi, the assistant coach of the national team, has not yet renewed his contract, as has Li Xiaopeng, but his stay will have to wait for the results of the General Administration of Sport's assessment of the entire team.
Li Xiaopeng does have the intention to quit, but before that, all preparations still need to have a clear statement.
It's a shame that Zheng Zhi couldn't have a decent farewell ceremony at Guangzhou, but I don't think there's a more perfect way to say goodbye than to lead an all-Chinese team to a third place finish in the Chinese Super League in the second phase of last year's tournament (which was actually only one goal off second place). Holding on in the face of adversity and allowing the young Guangzhou team to show their fearlessness and spirit of not giving up is perhaps the best way to give back to the city.
