Chinese Super League (CSL) team Shandong Luneng Taishan announced on Friday that manager Felix Magath would be leaving the side. According to a statement posted on Magath’s official Twitter account, it was a “mutual decision.”

“We agreed to finish our working relationship following the end of this year’s [CSL] season. The decision making process proceeded fair and straight-forward from both sides at any time, which I really appreciate.”

“This farewell after a very successful transition from fighting relegation to establishing the club among the league’s top clubs, is kind of hard for me. Especially because all the people at the club and around touched me with their warmth and openness. Thank you all for that.”

“It was both a pleasure and a huge challenge for me to live and work in [China.] The people literally are as amazing as their country. I am very happy of being able to say that I enjoyed Chinese hospitality and friendliness from the first day on and I will never forget about it.”

As outlined in the statement, when Magath arrived in 2016, Shandong Luneng Taishan were being managed by Mano Menezes and had finished the season in 14th – one place and only two points away from relegation – which was a stark contrast to their earlier seasons: From 2004 to 2015, Luneng had only ever finished outside the top 4 once.

Best known for his success in Germany’s Bundesliga, where he won back-to-back doubles with Bayern Munich in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons and won the league with VfL Wolfsburg in 2008, Magath did what he couldn’t during his brief stay at Fulham and turned the club’s fortunes around, leading them to a respectable 6th place finish – a gain of eight rankings. Even without qualification for the AFC Champions League, this gives the team a solid basis to work on in the 2018 season.

The club appear to be pleased with this too. In their own statement, representatives of Shandong Luneng Taishan describe Magath as someone who “further enhanced the team's will, the quality of training and the athletic performance through his hard work.” They went on to say, "Mr. Magath's professional attitude and dedication won the club's respect and made him a fan favorite. We sincerely thank him for his hard work and wish Mr. Magath the best for the future."

As amiable as this split is, it marks the third voluntary departure by a big name foreign manager from the CSL in the space of less than a month. On November 4, Luiz Felipe Scolari confirmed he would not be renewing his contract at Guangzhou Evergrande and on November 29, Andre Villas-Boas shocked everyone by quitting Shanghai SIPG in order to try his hand in the 2018 Dakar Rally.

Unlike Guangzhou Evergrande, who replaced the Brazilian Scolari with Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro with immediate effect, and Shanghai SIPG, who still haven’t announced a replacement for Portugal’s Villas-Boas, Shandong Luneng Taishan – in the same statement in which Magath’s departure was revealed – announced that their new manager would be Chinese international Li Xiaopeng. Li spent his whole domestic playing career with Shandong, playing 217 games and scoring 42 goals between 1994 and 2005, and arrives with only women’s national and men’s second division football management experience. However, his ties to the club suggest a loyalty that international managers won’t have.