Question mark on the ability of overseas Vietnamese Tran Thanh Trung

Question mark on the ability of overseas Vietnamese Tran Thanh Trung

Not as expected

V.League 2025/26 has gone through the first 5 rounds. Ninh Binh , the new rookie from the First Division, is playing comfortably at the top of the rankings, with a streak of 5 consecutive unbeaten matches, including 4 wins and 1 draw. The story of the ancient capital team having a high position and an impressive start does not surprise experts.

This past summer, this club was the most active in the shopping market. According to Transfermarkt, the total value of Ninh Binh's squad was 3 times higher than last season. One of the pieces that helped raise the position of the Ninh Binh Arena team was Tran Thanh Trung. This is a young overseas Vietnamese but has the highest value in the club.

Thanh Trung needs to prove more if he wants to attend SEA Games 33 with U23 Vietnam.

In fact, the way Ninh Binh acquired Thanh Trung surprised many members of the Board of Directors. Because initially, they were not the club participating in the race to recruit a famous face in Bulgarian football. Two other potential teams in V.League competed to get Thanh Trung's signature.

But in the scene of “the storks fighting each other”, Ninh Binh plays the role of “the fisherman who benefits”. Although it is not a club participating in the Champions League, nor is it a club with a rich record in Vietnam, but with its huge financial potential and great ambition, Ninh Binh has convinced the relevant parties to recruit the 20-year-old talent.

Of course, as mentioned, the transfer value of this deal is quite high. According to the representative of Ninh Binh Club, the fee for the owner club Slavia Sofia to accept selling Thanh Trung is up to more than 10 billion VND. This number does not even include the personal negotiation terms between this player and the ancient capital team. Holding the most promising overseas Vietnamese player in the world , Ninh Binh's Board of Directors immediately sent people to Bulgaria to support bringing Thanh Trung back to Vietnam. At the rookie team V.League, Thanh Trung also received help from the coaching staff and teammates.

Unfortunately, Thanh Trung has not responded in a way that is commensurate with what he has received from Ninh Binh. In contrast to the impressive performance of his home team in the starting stage, Thanh Trung has only played in 3 matches in V.League, against Hong Linh Ha Tinh , Thanh Hoa and Hai Phong. The total time that Thanh Trung has played on the field is only less than 1 half. This number makes the fans disappointed.

Because he is considered the top "blockbuster" deal of Ninh Binh in particular and V.League in general. The ancient capital team itself has shown "good luck" with a series of other new recruits such as Ngoc Quang, Quang Nho or especially Duc Chien. However, with the most expensive contract in the 2025/26 transfer period, Ninh Binh has not yet got what it needs.

Must prove it, Thanh Trung!

Of course, V.League 2025/26 also witnessed young Vietnamese-American talents falling into a similar situation as Thanh Trung. Damian Vu Thanh An, Lee Williams or Brandon Ly have not had many opportunities to play. A rare case in the U23 age group who has played more than the above group of players is Vadim Nguyen. The face currently playing for Da Nang has played 4 matches in the last 6 rounds. However, the player with Vietnamese and Russian blood has not made a big impact in terms of expertise, even though coach Kim Sang Sik has given him the opportunity to try his hand at the upcoming U23 Vietnam team.

The fact that his Vietnamese-American friends are in the same situation is a consolation for Thanh Trung. But that does not mean he can afford to be lazy at this stage. Remember, Thanh Trung is the most valuable Vietnamese-American player in Vietnam's history. The 20-year-old himself is also expected to follow in the footsteps of Nguyen Filip, Cao Pendant Quang Vinh and Dang Van Lam in the Vietnam national team in the near future.

Being once again present in the U23 Vietnam team is the best opportunity for Thanh Trung to prove his ability. In addition, with the context of 8 key faces being called up to the national team by coach Kim Sang Sik, this is a condition for Thanh Trung to affirm his talent that was trained in Bulgaria and the European youth tournament at the U23 Vietnam team. It should be added that one of the 8 names mentioned above includes central midfielder Nguyen Xuan Bac. Obviously, Thanh Trung will have more room to perform in the midfield of the "Young Warriors of the Golden Star".

A month ago, due to subjective and objective conditions, Thanh Trung could not join U23 Vietnam to participate in the 2026 U23 Asian Qualifiers. But before him is the West Asia training trip, with 2 international friendly matches against U23 Qatar. Based on what he has done with the national youth team, the SEA Games door for Thanh Trung will therefore be open or narrow.

Adaptation problem

According to expert Phan Anh Tu, the slow start of Tran Thanh Trung and many other overseas Vietnamese players in V.League 2025/26 comes from the fact that the players' skills do not meet the needs of the head coach. He said: "Maybe they did well in Europe - the environment where they were trained and played. But Vietnam has other characteristics. Players not only have to adapt to pure professional skills but also need to get used to the culture, playing style, communication, living, and training. Even foreign players with bright resumes cannot stay in V.League if they cannot adapt to many factors here."

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan emphasized that overseas Vietnamese players need to be aware and flexible in their professional skills if they want to have more positions at V.League clubs. “If overseas Vietnamese players are better than their teammates in the same position, it is not surprising if they are chosen by the head coach. Or they need to adjust themselves to be more versatile, ready for more new tasks. Modern football requires players to play many positions. In a match where tactics change, the coach needs to swap positions, and non-versatile players will not be able to meet the requirements.”

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/dau-hoi-nang-luc-cua-viet-kieu-tran-thanh-trung-i783400/