HCM City FC signs up US midfielder
Vietnamese-American midfielder Lee Nguyen has signed a one-year deal with Ho Chi Minh City FC and will play as a domestic player for them in 2021.
The club management team confirmed the news on December 18.
He is expected to arrive in Vietnam on December 28 and go into mandatory quarantine. The value of the contract has not been disclosed. He will not be treated as a foreign player in next season's top-flight division V. League 1, scheduled to kick off on January 16, since he has a Vietnamese nationality.
HCMC FC have been trying to recruit the 34-year-old midfield star since February, agreeing to pay US$1 million, from Inter Miami CF, owned by English star David Beckham, but their offer was initially rejected by the US club.
Nguyen played for Hoang Anh Gia Lai (2009-10) and Becamex Binh Duong (2010-11), and was rated highly despite having some trouble adapting to the football environment in Vietnam. He then returned to the US, and was called up for the national team nine times by coach Jürgen Klinsmann.