Coach Kim Sang-sik receives bad news from Vietnam national team's mainstay; Chelsea 'explodes' 52 million euro blockbuster

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 squad. Specifically, center back 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. However, with the star of Hanoi FC 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 Asian (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 opportunities and had many corner kicks. However, throughout the first half, coach Velizar Popov's students 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.

Newcomer Yago Ramos put Thanh Hoa ahead with a header from a corner kick. After assisting his teammate, it was Luiz Antonio's turn to score with a beautiful long-range shot, sealing a 3-1 victory for Thanh Hoa.

Chelsea makes 52 million euro blockbuster

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

Joao Felix has joined Chelsea on a seven-year contract. He previously spent six months on loan at the Blues in the second half of the 2022/23 season, scoring four goals in 20 appearances.

“I am really happy to be back at Chelsea and can’t wait to get started. I loved 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 great 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 centre-forward 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 by Transfermarkt.