From the story of The Cong Viettel
A few days ago, The Cong Viettel club said they were ready to transfer Hoang Duc before the 2024-2025 V.League started. They understand that they cannot retain the stars they trained, when the contract between both parties will expire in early 2025.
The Cong Viettel wants to sell Hoang Duc, but whether this can be done or not depends on many factors.
The international standard football transfer market clearly stipulates three-party consensus. That means, in addition to The Cong Viettel as the seller, this deal only happens when the buyer appears. Equally important is Hoang Duc's decision to stay or go.
And unfortunately, this midfielder does not have such an unfinished transfer need, especially when he has agreed to a deal worth up to 30 billion VND with another team - which will activate immediately after he The contract with Viettel The Cong expired.
Many people say that The Cong Viettel has to blame themselves, because they did not quickly sell Hoang Duc when he still had a long-term contract. But ask a deeper question: even when the opportunity is ripe, does the team really want to put Hoang Duc on the transfer market?
Looking back at the past, at least twice The Cong Viettel could sell Hoang Duc in exchange for a high transfer fee. According to this midfielder himself, 3 years ago, Pathum United (Thailand) wanted him but The Cong Viettel refused.
One year later, Daejeon Hana Citizen (Korea) was ready to release Hoang Duc's contract with a compensation fee of up to 10 billion VND. However, the team and this midfielder decided to extend the contract for another 2 years.
Buying and selling in V.League has never been easy
The story of Hoang Duc and The Cong Viettel is also a visible reality in V.League. Sales deals in Vietnam's No. 1 tournament, if any, only stop at the threshold of team A buying back the (remaining) contract of the player that side B owns.
However, these cases are still counted on the fingers of one hand. Having said that, it is unlikely that two V.League clubs will sit at the negotiating table and propose a transfer fee revolving around the face that both sides are interested in, at least for now.
A core factor leading to the transfer in V.League under the form of fair trade that cannot happen like internationally is the high ownership of the clubs.
Remember, Hoang Duc had to wait until he was 27 years old to break up with The Cong Viettel. Van Toan, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, Cong Phuong... also left Hoang Anh Gia Lai when they were 26 or 27 years old!
The terms surrounding dedication to the training club invisible tie up many Vietnamese players until they are 25-26 years old. Song Lam Nghe An - V.League's leading youth training facility also only agreed to let players leave at the age of 23.
This means that Vietnamese players themselves have spent 5-8 years unable to participate in professional transfers. Meanwhile, the vast majority of international players can move from one club to another when they turn 18.
From another perspective, V.League transfers are not easy - coming from the psychology of the players and teams. They often tend to have bilateral dialogue. At that time, the team that wants to own it only has to pay the kickback money and the player's salary, instead of having to pay an additional fee to the partner club.
As for the players themselves, they are not ready to become part of a three-way transfer. Most Vietnamese players have a habit of going through a broker to work with another club when the contract with the parent team is about to end. In return, they default to receiving a bribe of several billion VND/year.
In fact, the story in V.League is also a part of international football transfers, especially with free player transfers.
But if it becomes a repetitive cycle in many teams and many seasons, a break in the cash flow will be present. Clubs that produce good players cannot get the transfer fees they naturally deserve.
The cash flow for V.League development from sales did not happen. Invisibly, the team lost a significant amount of revenue from transfers, in addition to television rights and advertising.
