Mid-season transfer window put off as Covid halts V. League

By Hoang Nguyen   May 15, 2021 | 03:31 pm PT
Mid-season transfer window put off as Covid halts V. League
The foreign players of HCMC FC. Photo by VnExpress/Tinh De.
With the V. League suspended because of the fresh Covid-19 wave in Vietnam, the mid-season transfer window has been postponed.

It is expected to reopen when the league returns in two months, with clubs considering options like adding foreign players to strengthen their squads for the second phase of the season.

The transfer window was scheduled for April 26-May 23, but with a new Covid wave starting, clubs were not able to work on transfers. Only Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) managed to sign a foreign player, Brazilian Felipe Martins. It was the third time they signed Martin just this year after releasing him early the previous two times for poor performance.

He replaces a foreign player who will miss the rest of the season due to injury.

Other clubs like HCMC FC, SHB Da Nang, Thanh Hoa FC, and Becamex Binh Duong are scouring for foreign players.

Da Nang, Thanh Hoa and Binh Duong are likely to make it to the top six, and so are planning to strengthen their squads before playing the last round of the first phase, which will decide the six teams that will vie for the title in the second.

HCMC FC are looking for foreign players playing overseas and not in Vietnam despite the Covid travel restrictions.

If the transfer window had not been postponed, the club would have been unable to sign a player from overseas in time, considering procedures like visa and quarantine.

HCMC’s two new players, Brazilian defender Brendon Lucas and Senegalese striker Ibrahima Ndiaye, can come to Vietnam by the end of May and join the club in mid-June after finishing their 21-day quarantine.

Last month the club had parted ways with Brazilian forwards Joao Paulo and Júnior Barros after their dispappointing performance this season.

 
 
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