VietNamNet Bridge - Dozens of foreign players have left Vietnam to seek opportunities in other countries in the region. Those who stay have to accept significant reduction of salary.

Argentinean striker Gaston Merlo of Da Nang FC.

Argentinean striker Gaston Merlo has returned to Da Nang after a long time of injury treatment at home. In the 2012 season, after the 20th round, Merlo was the top scorer with 20 goals. However, he was badly injured and had to say goodbye to the season early.

After Da Nang FC won the V-League championship, the team intended to liquidate the contract with Merlo. However, through video clips to prove his full recovery, Merlo is still in the team's list for the 2013 season.

Shortly after his return to Vietnam, Merlo met with officials of the Da Nang FC. The striker was like "falling from the sky" because he did not know the recent changes of Vietnam’s football. He still innocently requested to be paid VND6 billion ($300,000) per year and monthly salary of not less than VND300 million ($15,000).

This is the pay that Da Nang used to be willing to pay for Merlo in the previous seasons but now the situation has changed. After negotiations, Da Nang agreed to pay Merlo VND2 billion ($100,000) a year, but Merlo disagreed.

The two sides have not reached an agreement yet but if Merlo still insists that price, the striker will have to look for opportunities in other teams, but it will be far more difficult.

Merlo is just one of many foreign players whose prices have dropped in the V-League. Earlier, the best scorer of the 2012 season, Nigerian striker Timothy Anjembe, was hard to find a job.

After being refused by Saigon Xuan Thanh and Binh Duong FCs, the striker joined Ninh Binh FC, but he had to accept reduced salary and transfer fees by one third from the original price. Naturalized player Huynh Kesley also had to "cut down the price" to find a new FC.

At Hanoi T&T FC, which has financial stability from boss Do Quang Hien, the policy for foreign players has also changed. Accordingly, even the stars like Brazilian midfielder Cristiano Roland and Nigerian striker Samson Kayode
are now in the liquidation plan.

The foreign footballers who have played at the V-League for many years were heavily discounted when their prices dropped sharply. Some of them did not accept low wages so they had to find a new team or move to other countries in the region such as Thailand and Malaysia to find their luck.

At the recent AFF Cup, coach Nguyen Van Sy of the national football squad was surprised to see his former player Dinh Hoang Max on the Vietnamese team's training ground in Bangkok. It turned out that the player was applying to some teams in Thailand.

Under the new rules of the Vietnam Professional Football JSC (VPF), the 2013 season will tighten the number of foreign players attending the V-League and the First Division Tournament.

Accordingly, FCs can register only three and use two foreign soldiers in the same match. The numbers are two and one for the First Division Tournament.

This is one of the reasons that foreign players have to leave the V-League. In fact, the main reason is that FCs are tightening spending. They are more willing to sell to cover the cost of purchase so foreign players cannot ask for high prices as before.

Compiled by S. Tung