Chinese Super League: Former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini takes over the reins at Hebei China Fortune

MANUEL PELLEGRINI has joined the Chinese footballing revolution by taking over the reins as Hebei China Fortune boss.

The former Manchester City boss, 62, has been out of a job ever since being given his marching orders by the Etihad side - where he was replaced by Pep Guardiola.

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Chilean chief Pellegrini was officially unveiled as boss of the Chinese outfit on the club's official Weibo page - a popular micro-blogging site in the country.

And the ex-City boss - who won the Premier League back in the 2013-14 season - will now link up with big name stars such as Ezequiel Lavezzi and former Arsenal man Gervinho.

Other famous players at Hebei China Fortune include ex-Chelsea man Gael Kakuta and Stephane Mbia.

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Pellegrini, however, was not the club's first choice chief - with another former City man holding that honour, Roberto Mancini.

However, after the Italian rejected the move, the Chinese club turned their attention to Pell and Marcello Lippi - with the Chilean eventually getting the nod.

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And Hebei China Fortune will need Pellegrini to get off to a flying start, as the club are currently 15 points back from Luiz Felipe Scolari's Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao in the league after 23 games.

They are even five points adrift from the AFC Champions League spot at present, with just seven games left to play.