Fabio Cannavaro has said he turned the opportunity to sign Marouane Fellaini from Manchester United during the Chinese Super League's transfer window last month.
Cannavaro, who led Tianjin Quanjian into the top flight of Chinese football at the end of last season and who will kick off their first season in the CSL on Saturday against Guangzhou R&F, chose not to sign the Belgium international but was trying to acquire the midfielder's international teammate, Napoli striker Dries Mertens.
"There are a lot of good Belgian players in the national team who might be interested in playing in China," the Italian World Cup winner said.