When will Song Lam Nghe An finally escape the situation of "living hand-to-mouth"?
(Baonghean.vn) - Due to the failure to find a sponsor for the 2020 season, the Nghe An team has to sadly watch its key players leave Vinh Stadium one by one to seek new challenges at other clubs.
Chairman Nguyen Hong Thanh once shared: "To have a good team, you need quality players. SLNA aims to retain players whose contracts are about to expire, but when negotiating with them, we lack the necessary funds, making it difficult to get the players to agree. If SLNA had strong and stable finances, things would be very different; we wouldn't have to worry about playing and retaining players at the same time."
We can't compete with the big clubs financially. They offer very high signing bonuses to players. It's true that necessity is the mother of invention; I know some players still want to stay and contribute to their hometown team, but they have to leave for the sake of making a living. That's the rule that poor teams like ours have to accept.”
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| Chairman of SLNA,Mr. Nguyen Hong Thanh. (Photo courtesy) |
A few days ago, center-back Memovic officially became a HAGL player. This season, the player born in 1989 has been one of the best performers for the Vinh-based team. SLNA's achievement of conceding the fewest goals in V.League 2019 (26 goals) is largely thanks to the contributions of the center-back wearing jersey number 4.
Although SLNA desperately wanted to keep Memovic, and Memovic himself wanted to continue playing in Vinh, they couldn't do much more given their financial constraints. Without money, how could the Nghe An team negotiate a contract with the Serbian center-back? Therefore, HAGL seized this opportunity and reached an agreement with Memovic.
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| Memovic had a successful season with SLNA. (Photo: Archival image) |
In the 2020 season, SLNA will face a difficult challenge regarding its squad. A number of key players have left, while the next generation lacks experience. To strengthen its team (both domestic and foreign players), the Nghe An team needs to quickly find a new sponsor. Otherwise, SLNA will continue to repeat the mistakes of previous seasons.
If things continue like this, "living hand-to-mouth," when will the team at Vinh Stadium ever escape the situation of "slow oxen in muddy water"?
