HONG KONG, May 3 (Reuters) - Former Asian Player of the Year Zheng Zhi has left Guangzhou FC, bringing an end to a trophy-laden 12-year spell with the eight-time Chinese Super League (CSL) champions, local media reported.
State news agency Xinhua said on Monday that the 41-year-old had not been included in the squad, or among the club's coaching staff, in the list submitted to CSL officials ahead of the start of the new season.
The report said he had chosen not to stay on at the financially struggling club after his contract expired at the end of last season.
Zheng, who played 108 times for China and captained the side, made 11 appearances last season and stepped in to become player-coach when Fabio Cannavaro quit last year.
He had been expected to lead the team into the new CSL campaign as a long-term replacement for the Italian.
Reuters has requested comment from Guangzhou, who have made no official statement on Zheng.
Zheng played 215 times for the side, leading them to the Asian Champions League title in 2013 and 2015.
The versatile midfielder joined the club, which had been relegated following a match-fixing scandal, in June 2010, the same year property developers China Evergrande Group took over.
After helping them climb back into the top flight, Guangzhou went on to win seven consecutive CSL titles.
In 2013, Guangzhou became the first Chinese club to be crowned continental champions since Liaoning in 1990 when they won the Asian Champions League, with Zheng named the Asian Player of the Year that season.
But the club have been in turmoil over Evergrande's debt problems, with foreign players Paulinho, Anderson Talisca, Alan Carvalho, Elkeson and Ricardo Goulart all departing.
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