Which foreign players will 'dock' at SLNA in the 2021 season?

January 16, 2021,V.League2021 will start, because the Covid-19 epidemic has made recruiting foreign players for next season much more difficult. There is no other way, V.League teams have to reuse each other's foreign players. This is both a safe solution and saves time waiting for players to quarantine for 14 days, when there is no trial period.

Surf the market

First of all, to replace foreign player Felipe Martins, SLNA will definitely have to continue to sign a contract with a player to play in the attack. It seems that the coaching board is temporarily satisfied with the two young players Van Lam and Dinh Chau in the central midfield position. But unlike V.League giants such as Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, Hanoi or Viettel, SLNA does not have a lot of money to pay bonuses and salaries.

Of course, they also have to try to avoid repeating the lesson of striker Alagie Sosseh in the 2020 V.League season when he did not have a single shot on target in 10 rounds, and could not make a single neat first-step save. The Nghe An team's recruitment of foreign players is also problematic, there are many boards and professional councils but still encounter "wooden legs" like Sosseh.

Ismael Akinade (SHB.Da Nang) is a memorable name. Photo: SHB.Da Nang

For a long time, coach Chu Dinh Nghiem has had a philosophy: "Will recruit any foreign player who enters the net."Hanoi FC", previously Omar, Rimario were recruited according to this principle. When the V.League giants wanted foreign players, SLNA had almost no chance to recruit.

Pape Omar, the player who scored 77 goals in 7 years playing in the V-League, has just left Hanoi FC. The two million-dollar Costa Rican strikers, Jose Ortiz and Ariel Rodriguez of Ho Chi Minh City, are certainly not in the budget of the team considered poor.

Senegalese striker Omar has only scored 2 goals in this year's V-League and is no longer in Hanoi's player strategy but is still a valuable asset. Striker Ariel has only scored 3 goals in 8 matches, while Ortiz has been completely silent, so although he is not "worth the money", not every team has enough money to touch him.

Looking at foreign soldiers?

The duo Ismael Akinade and Grace Tanda have just left SHB Da Nang and seem to be in the sights of the Nghe An team in terms of both expertise and money.

If Akinade has a second season in V-League with 7 goals in 14 matches, and Tanda scored 6 goals in 15 matches. These are numbers that do not satisfy coach Le Huynh Duc, but certainly if he returns to Vinh Stadium, it is not a bad solution. These are not very excellent foreign players, their playing style is physical, considered relatively suitable for SLNA.

Fagan's contract with Hai Phong has expired and he is a free agent. Photo: SHB.Da Nang

Without much money, if they are not quick, SLNA will find it difficult to recruit foreign players to supplement their attack.

Except for rookie Binh Dinh, teams without much money like Nam Dinh and Thanh Hoa have basically finished recruiting foreign players, making the Nghe An team's recruitment more important than ever.