HA NOI — Defenders Truong Dinh Luat and Au Van Hoan will officially become members of V.League newcomer HCM City FC this week.

Both players ended their contracts with former champions Becamex Binh Duong last month.

Hoan, 27, used to be a player of the national and U23 teams in 2011-12, while Luat, 33, just announced his retirement from the national team last week after Viet Nam lost to Indonesia in the semifinals of the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup.

An official of the club Tran Dinh Huan did not reveal details of the contracts but said the new deals would be strong support for his team, which would face challenges in the national premier league in their return next year.

He said there were 12 new players in the club. Together with the senior player and coach French Alain Fiard, HCM City FC would have a quality line-up that was comparable with other rivals in the V.League.

Fiard is formerly a coach of Ligue 1’s Auxerre FC.

In warm-up matches recently, HCM City FC beat Can Tho 2-0, tied Long An 2-2 and drew 3-3 against the national U21 squad. — VNS