Do Nguyen Thanh Chung and the special story in Ninh Binh: No bribes, no self-management of finances

This is not only a professional attention-grabbing deal but also a special story about Ninh Binh FC's way of doing football.

Value is not in the Transfermarkt numbers

Thanh Chung is valued quite highly on the transfer site Transfermarkt - a positive signal showing the ability and development potential of this 20-year-old player.

However, that does not mean that Ninh Binh FC has to spend an amount of money corresponding to the valuation to recruit him. In fact, Ninh Binh FC has negotiated wisely and carefully with Slavia Sofia, because Thanh Chung only has 1 year left on his contract.

According to the International Transfer Law, if they do not sell at this time, the Bulgarian team will risk losing the player for free when the contract expires next summer. This factor has helped Ninh Binh reach an agreement with a transfer fee much lower than the market value.

No kickbacks – the “European” approach

Another notable point in this deal is that Thanh Chung did not receive a signing bonus when signing the contract with Ninh Binh - something quite rare in the professional football environment in Vietnam today. The 20-year-old player agreed to sign a contract following the popular model in Europe, where salary, bonuses and terms are transparent, without any "extra" fees that cause difficulties for both parties.

The salary Chung receives is not too different from the average European players of the same age and level. Most of Chung's salary will be directly managed by his parents. The young player himself only receives a small portion each month to meet basic living needs.

At first, he shared a room with goalkeeper Dang Van Lam at Ninh Binh FC.

The 5-year contract signed with Do Nguyen Thanh Chung has an appendix agreed by Ninh Binh and his parents. As mentioned above, Chung's parents will help Chung manage his income in Vietnam, Chung will only focus on playing football and receive a small portion of his salary for spending. Chung will initially share a room with Dang Van Lam. After that, he will find an apartment outside, get used to life in Vietnam and can welcome his parents or friends in Bulgaria to watch Chung play in the V-League.