Behind the billion-dollar deal between Minh Vuong and Binh Phuoc

Blame the broker

Minh Vuong joined the HAGL first team from V.League 2013. Up to now, "captain Tran" has played for the Mountain City Club for 14 seasons. No HAGL player has played as continuously and as much as Minh Vuong. It can be affirmed that Vuong is a symbol in the historical flow of the Pleiku home team. However, the period of creating a legend named Minh Vuong was not at all brilliant.

Minh Vuong once had a joke but it was true about his journey over the past 10 years at HAGL. That is, spending his youth to stay in the league. Instead of the ambitious image and the V.League championship over 20 years ago, HAGL of the past decade has only been stuck in the national championship season after season. Minh Vuong painfully witnessed the club he spent his youth hanging around in the mid-range group of V.League. This season is no exception. Up to now, HAGL is not exactly stuck in the relegation zone. But they also do not have enough potential to compete for a position in the top 3 of the tournament.

Seeing his teammates promoted 1 year after him (Minh Vuong played in V.League in 2013 season and Cong Phuong was promoted in 2014), seeing his teammates from the same era go abroad and then leave HAGL one by one, Minh Vuong also thought about renewing his future.

In February 2025, during the mid-season transfer period, the player born in 1995 decided to ask a broker to help him find another team. At that time, the contract between Minh Vuong and HAGL had only half a year left. According to FIFA regulations, he was allowed to contact and listen to other clubs. Binh Duong was the team that "caught the wave" of Minh Vuong. Everything seemed to be settled, but unexpectedly, the broker that Minh Vuong trusted connected with PVF-CAND. This made Binh Duong unhappy and withdrew from the negotiation. But PVF-CAND could not get this talented midfielder. The widespread press coverage made HAGL aware of the situation. Mr. Duc (Chairman Doan Nguyen Duc) decided to call to convince Minh Vuong to stay at Pleiku Stadium until the end of the season. In the rare occasion of witnessing his charismatic boss give in, Vuong decided to stay in the league with HAGL one last time...

Influence of Cong Phuong

Minh Vuong will leave HAGL after the 2024/25 V.League ends. That is for sure. This player wants to spend the remaining 5-6 years of his career to conquer titles. Looking at Van Toan, Van Thanh, Hong Duy, Tuan Anh crowned V.League champions, this midfielder also desires to do that at least once before hanging up his boots.

This time, Minh Vuong looked for another broker. Three teams, including Binh Phuoc and two northern representatives, were serious about him. All three offered the same amount. That was 8 billion VND in signing bonus for a 3-year contract.

When money is no longer a measure for comparison, Minh Vuong wants to find something special in the group of 3 clubs pursuing him. And finally, he reached a preliminary agreement with Binh Phuoc. In which, Cong Phuong is the reason why Vuong wants to choose Binh Phuoc. It should be added that the story related to Cong Phuong does not stop at the fact that Binh Phuoc owns him and Minh Vuong wants to come just to be teammates with his friends once again.

It must be emphasized that Cong Phuong's influence in this deal is much greater. He proactively participated in suggesting Binh Phuoc recruit Minh Vuong. It is not only because of personal feelings. Cong Phuong wants quality players at V.League level to join Binh Phuoc. Up to now, the Southeast team has almost certainly won the runner-up position in the National First Division. That means they will compete in the play-off round with the penultimate club in V.League this season. In the context that both sides are forced to use all players of Vietnamese origin and are not allowed to choose foreign players, Binh Phuoc with its current names is not inferior to Da Nang , Quang Nam, Song Lam Nghe An or Binh Phuoc.

Back to the story between Cong Phuong, Minh Vuong and Binh Phuoc. The impact from Cong Phuong became the motivation for Binh Phuoc to be more active in recruiting Minh Vuong. On the other hand, Cong Phuong's seriousness and great influence were the reasons for Minh Vuong to put his trust in the Southern team.

After Minh Vuong, Binh Phuoc will continue to search for and recruit names at the V.League level. Cong Phuong himself once advised Binh Phuoc to convince Trieu Viet Hung to join. However, Hai Phong rejected the offer from the club playing in the First Division. If they can win the play-off match, Binh Phuoc's prestige and appeal will be even greater. That will be the time for them to confidently "transform into a dragon", becoming a name worthy of respect in the V.League.

Waiting for a bounce
Although Binh Phuoc has not been promoted to V.League, they have received support from many sides. Many brokers are also contacting to "sell" Binh Phuoc right now. This team will also advocate overhauling its force and becoming a team with a position. In the context of Binh Duong's decline, Ho Chi Minh City is only an average club, the rise of Binh Phuoc helps make Southern football more worth watching!
It will be interesting if Binh Phuoc is promoted. They will join Nam Dinh, Hanoi, Hanoi Police, Ninh Binh,… to create a competitive V.League season in the future.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/so-tay-the-thao/dang-sau-thuong-vu-tien-ty-giua-minh-vuong-va-binh-phuoc-i768773/