Manuel Pellegrini’s path to West Ham appears clearer after he was released by Hebei China Fortune.
The 64-year-old former Manchester City boss has been heavily linked with becoming David Moyes’ successor at the London Stadium.
And, in a statement on their Weibo account on Saturday, Hebei said: “We have reached an agreement with Manuel Pellegrini that he will no longer serve as team manager.
“Here, the club would like to express its sincere gratitude to Mr Pellegrini for his contributions and we wish him well in his future work life.”
Joint-chairman David Sullivan said the club needed to move in a “different direction” with a “high-calibre figure” following the recent departure of Moyes.
Sullivan added on Thursday: “We are already taking steps to identify and recruit the manager we believe can take West Ham United forward in line with our ambitions.”
Pellegrini coached at Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga in Spain before taking charge of Manchester City in 2013, going on to win the 2013/14 Premier League title as well as the League Cup twice before his departure.
The 64-year-old Chilean left the Ethiad Stadium in June 2016, when he was succeeded by Pep Guardiola, but was soon back in work at Hebei.