Many years ago, Le Cong Vinh became the star with the most valuable transfer value in Vietnam. Things may have started in 2007, Mr. Nguyen Giang Dong (later president of Saigon Club) - led the negotiation delegation with Song Lam Nghe An.
Mr. Hien started playing football at that time and was willing to spend 1 million USD (equivalent to 16 billion VND) to buy Cong Vinh's contract.
Mr. Ho Van Chiem - former CEO of Song Lam Nghe An at that time could not help but be surprised because the transfer price above was far beyond imagination. Even 16 billion VND could be the amount that accounted for the majority of the club's operating expenses at that time.
17 years ago, the purchase and sale and transfer of Vietnamese players were still difficult and had many shortcomings. Cong Vinh wanted to leave but had to accept to stay.
More than a year later, when he won the AFF Cup 2008 championship and also had his contract with his hometown team expired, he went to Hanoi T&T (now Hanoi FC) and only received 8 billion VND for 3 years, a figure much lower than the original level. But Cong Vinh is also the starting point for the "storms" of Vietnamese football transfer prices.
A few years later, it was still Cong Vinh with a historic "break". After a few negotiations, Cong Vinh agreed to receive a salary of 80 million VND/month and signed a 10 billion VND/3 years to stay in Hanoi T&T.
But then, Mr. Kien appeared, paying Cong Vinh 14 billion VND, nearly 1.5 times what Mr. Hien had decided. In fact, Mr. Hien was able to pay more, but this businessman once said that the player had the right to choose between offers.
After that, Cong Vinh only played for Hanoi ACB for 1 year before Mr. Kien got into the playoffs. He returned to play for Song Lam Nghe An before moving to Binh Duong with a contract worth no less than 11 billion VND.
Through 3 contracts, the striker born in 1985 earned about 32 billion VND - a huge number for Vietnamese players at that time.
Many years later, midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc, who only received the transfer fee for the first time, was close to reaching this number. Other names earned above and below 1 million USD for just a 3-year contract. However, to contribute worthyly and sufficiently with the money you receive has never been a simple problem.
