Coach Kim Sang-sik received bad news from the mainstay of the Vietnamese team; Chelsea 'exploded a blockbuster' of 52 million euros

Coach Kim Sang-sik received bad news from the mainstay of the Vietnamese team

According to the plan, the Vietnamese team will gather from August 30 to prepare for two friendly matches with Russia and Thailand. Although the gathering date has not yet arrived, coach Kim Sang-sik has received bad news about the team. Specifically, central defender Duy Manh suffered a knee injury while training with Hanoi FC.

Although this is not a serious injury, according to the diagnosis, he will need some time to recover and will miss this meeting with the Vietnamese team. The injury of the player born in 1996 forced coach Kim Sang-sik to change his plan.

According to previous calculations, Duy Manh was the central defender in the 3-4-3 formation of the Vietnamese team along with Que Ngoc Hai and Bui Hoang Viet Anh. But with the star of Hanoi FC being injured, this position will likely be a competition between Thanh Binh and Thanh Chung.

Although coach Kim Sang-sik still has players who can play well in the center-back position, the absence of Duy Manh will certainly affect the Vietnamese team.

3 foreign players scored, Thanh Hoa Club beat Myanmar team

Thanh Hoa Club played Shan United (Myanmar) in the first round of the group stage of the Southeast Asia Cup (Shopee Cup) 2024-2025. The Vietnamese football representative conceded an early goal, but the excellent performance of the foreign players helped the home team turn the situation around to win 3 points.

This was Thanh Hoa FC's first match of the season, after nearly 2 months of rest. The home team had problems in the first few minutes of the match and Shan United took advantage of the opportunity to score early. Moussa Bakayoko opened the scoring in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper.

The goal conceded after only 5 minutes of play forced Thanh Hoa FC to play offensively. The home team pressed hard, forcing their opponents to defend for the rest of the match.

The Thanh team controlled the ball well, created many chances and had many corner kicks. However, in the first half, coach Velizar Popov's players did not do well in finishing the attack.

In the second half, Thanh Hoa's main striker Rimario Gordon was brought onto the field. It didn't take long for the Jamaican striker to make his mark. Rimario's header in the 60th minute helped the home team equalize.

After the pressure-relieving goal, the game became favorable for Thanh Hoa FC. They continued to dominate and scored 2 more goals with the mark of foreign players.

New signing Yago Ramos put Thanh Hoa ahead with a header from a corner kick. After assisting his teammate, Luiz Antonio scored with a beautiful long-range shot, sealing a 3-1 victory for Thanh Hoa.

Chelsea made a blockbuster 52 million euros

On the evening of August 21 (Hanoi time), Chelsea's homepage announced the new player Joao Felix. The English team spent about 52 million euros (45 million pounds) to have the service of the Golden Boy award winner in 2019.

Joao Felix joined Chelsea on a seven-year contract. Previously, this player had a six-month loan spell with The Blues, in the second half of the 2022/23 season. He scored four goals in 20 appearances.

“I am really happy to be back at Chelsea and can’t wait to get started. I have enjoyed my time at the club. I have told my friends and family that I would love to play in the Premier League again. To do so at Chelsea is a fantastic feeling,” Joao Felix said in his Chelsea debut interview.

Chelsea had intended to buy Joao Felix outright at the end of the 2022/23 season, but their then-manager, Pochettino, opposed this. This summer, the English team initially targeted Atletico Madrid's Samu Omorodion in exchange for Gallagher, but the deal fell through at the last minute. The Blues immediately turned to Joao Felix.

Man City wants to buy Japanese striker

According to The Athletic, Man City are suddenly targeting Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi. The Citizens need a striker to share the burden with Erling Haaland after selling Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid.

The Athletic added that personal terms for the 29-year-old are not a problem for the Etihad team.

Kyogo Furuhashi is 29 years old and 1m70 tall. The Japanese international is a striker but can also play wide, similar to Julian Alvarez. Joining Celtic in 2021 for 5 million euros, Furuhashi quickly showed his influence. He scored 73 goals in 135 appearances for the Scottish giants.

During this pre-season friendly, Furuhashi scored against Man City, contributing to Celtic's 4-3 victory.

Man City targeted Furuhashi because this player is suitable and ready to be Haaland's backup. Before that, they had Alvarez but the Argentine star was not willing to play the "supporting role" forever.

Before joining Celtic, Furuhashi played for Vissel Kobe in the J League. He is currently valued at 14 million euros by Transfermarkt.