Vietnamese star midfielder to become highest-paid domestic player

Hai and Cong An Ha Noi (CAHN) have reached an agreement on terms, but have not yet signed a contract. The club wants Hai to spend time with his family after returning from France, as well as focusing on training with the national team this June.

Hai’s salary at the new club is expected to be over VND100 million ($4,258) a month, excluding bonuses.

Hai is one of the most prominent footballers in Vietnam, having won four V. League titles, two National Cup and three Super Cup titles.

He is a key player of the national team and has won the SEA Games 2019 gold medal, the 2018 AFF Cup title and advanced to the final qualifiers of the World Cup for the first time in the country’s history.

In 2022, Hai wants a new challenge and decided not to extend the contract with Hanoi FC. He then joined Pau FC on a two-year contract. However, he could not adapt to the environment of the French second-tier and lost his place in the team.

In the 2022-2023 season, Hai played 13 games with a total time of 268 minutes, only 20 minutes per game, and scored one goal.

The most recent game he played for the first team was on February 18. After that, he played seven games with a total time of 579 minutes for the reserved team Pau B in National 3, the fifth tier.

After CAHN showed interest in Hai, he reached an agreement to terminate the contract with Pau one year early.

Pau president Bernard Laporte Fray said Hai did not get to play much at the club because he did not meet the requirements of Ligue 2, and had limitations in terms of his physique. Hai is also not good at French, making it hard for him to communicate with teammates.

Hai’s agent said the 26-year-old player had received offers from clubs in Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. However, no clubs have confirmed this