"Back waves hit the waves first"
For just over half a year, Vietnamese football has continuously witnessed a record of player's hand-to-hand signing broken.
In July 2024, Pham Tuan Hai agreed to a 3-year contract extension with Hanoi FC. In return, in addition to being given the opportunity to go abroad by the capital team in the near future, the striker born in 1998 also has a 24-billion VND signing bonus.
No player at that time would have signed a high-level contract like Tuan Hai. More broadly, Tuan Hai has earned a total of 28 billion VND in signings through 2 times with Hanoi.
At that time, he was only behind his two seniors Le Cong Vinh (30 billion VND) and Nguyen Van Quyet (34 billion VND) in the history of Vietnamese football.
However, just 1 week later, Quang Hai surpassed Tuan Hai. He received nearly 27 billion VND for the next 3 years of his contract with the Hanoi Police Club. Of course, Quang Hai became the player who received the highest one-time handball goal in the history of Vietnamese football.
This is also the second time the midfielder from Dong Anh has had a handcuff when signing a professional contract. Including 10.5 billion VND for the previous 1.5 years of contract with the police team, Quang Hai has pocketed about 37 billion VND. By the end of 2024, Hai "con" is still the player receiving the highest treatment in Vietnamese football.
Also at the end of 2024, Quang Hai's record for single-time signing bribes was broken by Hoang Duc. According to research, the midfielder born in 1998 received 30 billion VND after agreeing to wear the Phu Dong Ninh Binh shirt to compete in the National First Division. Up to now, no Vietnamese player has received such a large signing bonus.
Van Quyet's milestone is easily overcome
Recently, "veteran" Nguyen Van Quyet signed his 6th contract with Hanoi FC. Compared to the previous 5 times, Van Quyet received the biggest hand fee of his career.
The figure of 18 billion VND may not be equal to the one-time signing of Tuan Hai, Quang Hai or Hoang Duc. But with an additional 34 billion VND in signings in the previous 5 signings, Van Quyet received about 52 billion VND for his football career.
Thanks to that, this player has risen to the number 1 position in the list of Vietnamese stars receiving the highest total benefits at present. The milestone that Van Quyet owns may last until the end of 2027. Because, it was not until that time that the 3-year contract (from 2024) of Tuan Hai (Hanoi FC), Hoang Duc (Phu Dong Ninh Binh) and Quang Hai (Hanoi Police) ended.
At that time, Quang Hai was only 30 years old, Hoang Duc and Tuan Hai were also at the age of 29. They are capable of signing at least one more 3-year contract with a new club, or renewing it with their current team.
At the level of being still a top priority in Vietnam, this trio of "Gen Z" players are strong enough to get deals with a signing price of 18-20 billion VND. That is not to mention, if they can maintain their stamina like their seniors Van Quyet, Quang Hai, Tuan Hai and Hoang Duc continuing to sign contracts at the age of 32, 33 and then receiving an additional leniency is completely reasonable.
The fact that these players can break the penalty record that Van Quyet is holding may worry fans about the level of inflation in the V.League transfer market.
However, from a positive perspective, they themselves must maintain their top form to be able to convince the team to spend tens of billions of VND to recruit and retain them.
The fact that Hanoi FC extended Van Quyet's contract for another 3 years is a lever in many aspects. On the one hand, the capital team highly appreciates the loyalty and dedication of the "veteran" born in 1991. On the other hand, paying a large hand for a 34-year-old player is also a motivation for other talents in Vietnamese football to strive to maintain their form over the years.
