V.League 2026: The U23 Transfer Frenzy and the Wage Bill Exceeding Revenue Problem

The summer of 2026 has never been this hot in V.League. Within the first three weeks of the mid-season transfer window, more than a third of clubs have registered two or three domestic players. Names like Nguyễn Hoàng Đức, Nguyễn Quang Hải and Phạm Tuấn Hải suddenly appear everywhere on newspapers and fan forums. But looking closely, this frenzy may not come from real professional needs, but from a financial pressure called the youth player registration rule. The 2026/26 season is the first season the VPF requires clubs to register at least three under-23 players in every matchday squad. The goal of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) is clear: to increase opportunities for young players when the national team is entering an ageing cycle. However, the implementation has been too fast for many clubs to prepare. They are forced to loan or buy young players from other clubs, pushing the market value of domestic U23 players up 40% compared with the same period last year. Looking at the financial picture, things get more complicated. According to unaudited financial reports of many V.League clubs, wage bills account for an average of 78% of total revenue. This exceeds the safe level of 65-70% recommended by European leagues. Broadcasting revenue still accounts for only 12% of total league revenue, while in Thailand the figure is 36%. This means Vietnamese clubs are almost completely dependent on sponsorship money from their parent companies. When the economy struggles, owners cut staff costs immediately. So the big-money contracts announced this summer are actually a double-edged sword. One signal worries experienced managers: young players get more playing time, but the professional quality has not really improved. The minutes played by U23 players increased 35%, but the expected goals (xG) of this group only rose by 6%. In other words, they get opportunities but no supporting training system. Many clubs promote youth players just to meet quotas, not to build a proper development pathway. The result is a paradox: young players are pursued, salaries are rising, but the actual professional value is not proportional. This is reminiscent of the naturalized player craze in V.League from 2026 to 2026. Back then, clubs spent heavily on overseas Vietnamese players from Europe with much higher salaries. Three years later, most of them left the league. The reason is not professional quality, but contract structure and short-term expectations. Expensive contracts rarely come with a long-term plan. When results fail, the first person blamed is the player, not the recruiter. The same story is repeating in the U23 segment. Clubs fight over a few bright names such as Nguyễn Văn Trường or Khuất Văn Khang, while ignoring their own youth squads. The cost of bringing a quality U23 player from another club can reach 10-15 billion VND, plus a monthly salary of 40-50 million VND. With that money, a club could run an entire youth training centre for three years. But short-term benefits push leaders to buy ready-made players instead of developing them. Nguyễn Hoàng Đức's story is easy to find in this window. After many years at one club, the midfielder born in 2026 suddenly appears on the transfer list. His salary is one and a half times higher than the old contract, but it comes with pressure from the new club's board. He no longer plays in a familiar tactical system, must adapt to a new coaching staff, new teammates, and a different dressing-room culture. Quite a few national team players have fallen into this situation and disappeared after one season. Stability, once the greatest value of Vietnamese football, is being traded for salary figures on paper. This mismatch does not come from the clubs themselves. The VPF regulation has a loophole: it sets a quota on quantity but does not control quality. No club is punished if a young player does not play, as long as his name is on the list. So the easy way is to fill the list with cheap youngsters from small training centres instead of building their own. This is the gap exposed by this transfer window. Contrary to what many fans think, raising salaries does not automatically create more value. It only reflects a shift of money from one wage bill to another. Without transparent wage control, V.League will repeat the mistake of the Chinese Super League from 2026 to 2026, when clubs spent uncontrollably and then went bankrupt one by one. Vietnamese football has been praised for its stability, but that stability only exists when big businesses are still strong enough. However, there is a positive point that analysts rarely mention: the return of spectators after the pandemic. The average attendance this season reached 11,500 people per match, up 23% compared with 2026. At stadiums such as Lạch Tray and Hòa Xuân, the atmosphere is always fiery. Ticket revenue growth attracts local sponsorship. If clubs use this resource well, they can gradually reduce dependence on wealthy owners. The remaining issue is whether the VPF dares to tighten financial regulations. A sustainable league cannot rely only on the self-discipline of clubs. The knockout stage of the Asian club cup, Vietnam's success at the AFF Cup 2026, and qualification for the 2026 U23 Asian Cup are creating huge appeal for the young generation. This is the golden time for the VPF to both raise professional quality and set up a financial risk barrier. The mid-season 2026 transfer window will last two more weeks. But what matters is not the money or the number of deals, but the question: are Vietnamese clubs ready to build a house from the foundation, or will they keep sticking flowers on a cracking house? Without a clear answer, Vietnamese football will still look beautiful in the newspapers, but it will lose the solid foundation that previous generations worked so hard to build.