Foreign soldiers - the trend of 'old people, new us'

The biggest surprise was that runner-up Ho Chi Minh City said goodbye to the quartet of Ismahil Akinade, a striker who has played in Europe for many years. Striker Victor Mansaray, a player who used to play for Binh Duong. This striker duo, along with center back Louis Ewonde and naturalized striker Huynh Kesley, played very well. They formed a stable framework to help Ho Chi Minh City compete fiercely for the championship with Hanoi FC.

Change foreign socks

Coach Chung still has Matías Jadue, a foreign player who, after the end of phase 1, was kept by Ho Chi Minh City to stay at the club even though he did not register to play in the second leg. At that time, the player who had to leave was Joel Vinicius, a striker who was competing for the Golden Boot but was considered lazy in training. Has being allowed to replace Hanoi to participate in the AFC Cup next year made Ho Chi Minh City consider recruiting better quality foreign players?

HAGL is a team that has been constantly changing foreign players for many years. Even goalkeeper Wieger Sietsma was released before the end of the season. Coach Lee Tae-hoon's compatriots, center back Kim Bong-jin and striker Felipe Martins, also said goodbye. The team from the mountain town has the best results in the past 5 years but it is still not enough for Wieger Sietsma, Kim Bong-jin, Felipe Martins to stay in the highlands for another season.

Rimario - Thanh Hoa's number 1 striker for the past 2 seasons - is also the target of many Vietnamese football teams. Photo: VPF

In his return to V.League, Mr. De had to part ways with Gramoz Kurtaj, Rimario Gordon and Errol Stevens despite their highly regarded skills. Rimario Gordon is considered “talented but flawed”, and his constant aggression on the field led to a 5-match ban. In addition to being nicknamed “wild horse”, Errol Stevens also had a history of injuries, so he did not contribute much to Thanh Hoa.

SLNA also said goodbye to all 3 foreign players, in which the "rock" Damir Memović, considered the best foreign central defender in V.League, was quickly picked up by HAGL. Olaha is a player who has been with the Vinh team for 3 seasons, although he did not score many goals, he supported the defense very well.

36-year-old central defender C. Zarour, 2 strikers Y. Touré, 33, P. Tambwe, 35, and naturalized player Nguyen Trung Dai Duong (33) all have no chance to play in the First Division. Surely S.Khanh Hoa will recruit young foreign players to fight for an early return to V.League.

Viettel is the team that after the first leg replaced all 3 Brazilian players with 3 new compatriots from the country that exports the most players in the world. But perhaps only top scorer Bruno Catanhede will be able to stay under new coach Viet Hoang. With a quality domestic squad, if there are quality foreign players, Viettel will challenge the V.League teams.

The trend of "old people, new me"

Even the champion Hanoi, except for 32-year-old P. Faye who is probably still attached to Hang Day Stadium, P. Kebe, despite having 4 goals or 2 midfielders S. Moshkelpoor and M. Oloya, has little chance of staying. For a long time, coach Chu Dinh Nghiem has almost never put 3 foreign players on the field at the same time, because he is confident in the quality of his domestic players.

P. Faye, 32 years old, is still the top foreign player in V.League. Photo: HNFC.

It seems that no V.League team will keep its foreign players after the season ends. Whether they have a lot of money or not, before the V.League 2020 opens, teams will still find a way to spend enough to buy 3 foreign players.

V.League is having a tendency to “old people, new people”, prioritizing the recruitment of foreign players who have played in Vietnam and have proven their skills. To avoid being “snatched”, many clubs even spend money to buy foreign players before appointing a head coach.

Immediately after recruiting center-back Louis Epassi Ewonde from Ho Chi Minh City to solidify the defense, Thanh Hoa FC made a blockbuster transfer by recruiting striker Hoang Vu Samson - the top striker in V.League. The naturalized striker of Nigerian origin has been making waves on football fields for the past decade.

This player won the Golden Boot twice in 2013 (17 goals) and 2014 (24 goals). In addition, no matter which team he plays for, this striker has always been in the top of the Golden Boot list in V.League from 2011 to present.