Behind the sensational transfers of Hanoi Police

But before they became successful as they are today, they also encountered some not-so-smooth business deals.

Once failed with Quang Hai, Filip Nguyen

Behind the sensational transfers of Hanoi police

Filip Nguyen returns to Vietnam to play for Hanoi Police Club. Photo: CAHN FC

Unlike the teams that have dominated the transfer market in the past 3-4 seasons such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Dinh or Nam Dinh, Hanoi Police have shown their stability in both shopping markets in the V-League.

If in phase 1, there was a change of force and quality enhancement with Van Hau, Tan Tai, Van Thanh, Van Duc, then recently, Hanoi Police continuously made "blockbusters" with two famous deals named Quang Hai and Filip Nguyen.

However, the shopping spree described as "invincible" by Hanoi Police Club did not immediately result in success for Quang Hai or Filip Nguyen.

In fact, the police team might not have been so active if the two bright stars had agreed at the beginning of the season.

In fact, the Hanoi Police Club had contacted both of these players before the V-League took place. In the case of Quang Hai, the police team worked directly with Pau FC, convincing the team to release the midfielder born in 1997.

This is similar to what Ho Chi Minh City tried to discuss with Sint Truidense Club (Belgium) and the influence from HAGL, thereby bringing Cong Phuong back to V-League a few seasons ago.

However, the Hanoi Police Club could not achieve their desired goal. Because at that time, Quang Hai had just changed his representative.

And the representative from Europe advised him to be patient with Pau FC, prioritizing waiting for signals from Western clubs rather than returning to V-League.

Besides the failure in the Quang Hai deal, Hanoi Police Club continued to be flatly rejected by another European club in the first offer of phase 1.

Specifically in the case of Slovacko. When the winter transfer market opened, equivalent to the transfer before V-League 2023, Hanoi Police made an offer to bring Filip Nguyen to Vietnam.

Czech Republic newspaper iSport gave interesting details in an exclusive interview with Filip Nguyen not long ago: “400,000 euros (more than 10 billion VND), including commission for the agent, was offered by Hanoi Police to Filip Nguyen. They were also willing to pay the contract compensation fee between Slovacko and Filip Nguyen. But Slovacko flatly refused. The Czech Republic team did not see the attractiveness in the offer from the Vietnamese representative.”

Unable to invite Polking, Park Hang Seo

But the Hanoi Police offer became a magnet for Filip Nguyen. He told iSport journalist Michal Kosturik last April: “In the Czech Republic, I would never have received the treatment that the Hanoi Police offered.”

That also became the motivation for Filip Nguyen to pay more attention to the Hanoi Police Club. On the contrary, after 2 failed requests from players playing in Europe, the police team seems to have become more experienced.

Then when the second phase of the transfer market opened, Hanoi Police Club, with their efforts, perseverance and more attractive offers, got Quang Hai and Filip Nguyen.

Through that, they have further strengthened the squad strength for coach Flavio Da Silva, aiming for the V-League championship in the first year of promotion.

Going back in time a few months ago, Flavio Da Silva was not the choice that Hanoi Police Club had in mind. At that time, there was a constant stream of news in the press about two candidates named Lee Young-jin and Mano Polking.

In March 2023, representative Lee Dong-jun sent a proposal to Hanoi Police Club for coach Park Hang-seo to take the position of Technical Director, and Lee Young-jin to be the head coach.

A representative of the Hanoi Police Club confirmed the incident. And the team even sent a representative of the Board of Directors to work with representative Lee Dong-jun, with the aim of better understanding the proposals and plans that the Korean representative could make if Mr. Park Hang-seo or Lee Young-jin led this club.

In the flow of information about Mr. Park or assistant Lee - the faces who helped U23 and the Vietnamese team achieve great success in the period 2018 - 2023, suddenly 1 month later, the press and social networks were full of news about coach Mano Polking being dissatisfied with the relationship with the Football Association of Thailand. And the coach who helped Thailand win the AFF Cup 2020, 2022 was invited to lead the Hanoi Police Club.

Coach Polking himself was also vague about the possibility of returning to V-League at that time. “The story of me going to Hanoi Police Club would not have happened if FAT had worked clearly on the contract with me.

I may not be the perfect coach. But I believe in my coaching style,” Mr. Polking told Thai newspapers.

A few days after Coach Polking's sharing, Hanoi Police Club said goodbye to 4 domestic assistants of the previous coach Paulo Foiani. Some sources close to the team confirmed that Coach Polking will bring his assistants to this team. Everything seemed to be over.

But surprisingly, Mr. Polking “turned around” at the last minute. The coach with Brazilian and German blood decided to sign a contract until 2023, focusing on leading the Thai team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

That made the fans who are interested in Hanoi Police Club extremely surprised. It was thought that the deal had been successful, but the unexpected ending happened at the last minute.

Thus, Hanoi Police is not necessarily a club that always wins in the transfer market.

Although sometimes failing to recruit coaches or players, that is what helps Hanoi Police Club have important turning points. Coach Flavio is showing his cool hand when leading the team to 5 wins and 1 draw in V-League 2023 in the recent period. Hanoi Police Club has risen from the middle of the rankings to first place and has a clear path to winning the championship this season.

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