JINAN -- A recent head coach appointment made by top-flight Chinese side Shandong Luneng has aroused heated online debate in the country about the future of local talent in its domestic football league.

The club decided to replace its German coach Felix Magath with Li Xiaopeng earlier this month. In Luneng's 20-year history, Li Xiaopeng is the only Chinese to be named as head coach. In fact, few clubs in the top-flight Chinese football league are following suit nowadays.

But that could soon change. The Chinese Footabll Association (CFA) recently released a draft plan stipulating that the top-tier and second-division clubs must field at least one local U23 player in each game starting from the 2018 season in a bid to give more chances to young local talents.

Some are pointing to these developments as signs that the overall composition of the league may soon look a lot more Chinese. Nevertheless, serious challenges remain for local talent in China's top-flight football league that will have to be tackled if major changes are indeed afoot.

A comeback for Chinese coaches

Magath came to Luneng in June 2016, and successfully saved the side from relegation, and led them to a sixth-place finish last season. His departure makes him the third big-name foreign coach to leave China, following Andre Villas-Boas and Luiz Felipe Scolari.

The 42-year-old Li Xiaopeng, who spent his entire playing career with Shandong Luneng, was one of the key members in China's only World Cup experience in 2002. As a player, Li helped Luneng win one Chinese Jia-A League title, three CFA Cup titles and one Chinese Super League (CSL) Cup title.

Li started working with Luneng as a vice manager in Decmeber of 2015 after he served as head coach of the women's national team, and as general manager of Shijiazhuang Everbright F.C.

Hao Wei, who managed the Chinese women's national team from 2012 to 2015, has been named assistant coach and technical director of Luneng.

Luneng has had over ten foreign coaches in its history, including some big-name foreign managers like Henk ten Cate, Mano Menezes and Radomir Antic.

The club said that plans to name a local coach were long in the making.

"We have always been dedicated to the development of local, young coaches since the club's inception. It is with this in mind that we have hired foreign coaches: to provide domestic coaches with opportunities for learning. The ultimate goal has always been for the good of Chinese football," said Luneng in a statement.

Foreign coaches’ coming to the Chinese football leagues has become a trend in recent years. Several CSL clubs chose Chinese coaches for the new season, like Chen Jingang at Changchun Yatai and Wu Jingui at Shanghai Shenhua. Still, only 3 out of 16 CSL clubs have named domestic coaches so far.

There have also been several new appointments of Chinese coaches in the second-tier China League One, such as former Everton midfielder Li Tie at Wuhan Zall, and Zhu Jiong at Shanghai Shenxin.