Nam Dinh recruits top scorer V-League 2023
Rafaelson is the V-League 2023 top scorer with 16 goals in 20 matches, equivalent to scoring 0.89 goals per game. Three seasons ago in the V-League, he scored a total of 17 goals.
After finishing seventh with Binh Dinh this season, Rafaelson's contract expired.
One day after the closing ceremony on August 27, Nam Dinh announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Rafaelson for a period of two years. The striker born in 1997 will reunite with his good partner on the attack, midfielder Hendrio Araujo - moving from Binh Dinh to Nam Dinh earlier this season.
"I want to win the V-League with Nam Dinh," said Rafaelson. "Playing with Hendrio will help me score more often."
Rafaelson is a Brazilian striker born in 1997. Early in his career, he struggled to find opportunities to play in his homeland. In 2018, Rafaelson moved to Vegelta Sendai in the J-League 1, before being loaned by the Japanese club to Denmark's Naestved for two seasons.
In 2020, Rafaelson moved to Vietnam and the first team to play for was Nam Dinh, then Da Nang and then Binh Dinh. He is considered a striker with good finishing skills and the ability to independently fight in attack.
Rafaelson is Nam Dinh's first major signing before the new 2023-2024 season. The team also officially recruited 24-year-old midfielder Tran Van Cong from Ha Tinh, in addition to negotiating with striker Nguyen Van Toan of Seoul E-Land.
Nam Dinh is purifying a strong force when saying goodbye to six players from the training camp including Tran Manh Hung, Pham Minh Nghia, Dinh Van Truong, Nguyen Ha Long, Dinh Viet Tu and Nguyen Dinh Manh. Coach Vu Hong Viet recruited 24 players from the youth team to screen, expecting to choose about 10 names from 18 to 21 years old for the first team next season. The goal is to compete for a medal in the V-League 2023-2024.
The fifth position of the V-League 2023 is not commensurate with the investment of Nam Dinh. In addition, the scandalous match lost 1-2 to the Hanoi Police in the 4th round of phase II made the image of the Southern team heavily affected, in which the home fans turned their backs. Thien Truong Stadium only received about 2,000 spectators in the closing round when Nam Dinh won 2-0 Ha Tinh which was the lowest since the team returned to the V-League.
