Nguyen Quang Hai denies J-League competition. He wants to play for Hanoi FC. Photo anninhthudo.vn

The V.League 1 champions Hanoi announced that they had rejected the approach after the national team star said he wanted to continue playing for the club.

The club also quoted Hai as saying he appreciated the Japanese side's offer but he hoped to contribute more to his current club and he believed that Hanoi would be a good launching pad for his career.

It is not the first time Hai has received interest from international clubs and Spanish La Liga and Thai League sides have been linked with the player.

Consadole Sapporo is a club based in Hokkaido. They are currently home to Thailand Chanathip Songkrasin and had Vietnamese legend Nguyen Cong Vinh on the books for five months in 2013.

Hanoi also revealed they are working on a deal to extend Hai's contract. He is currently in a training camp in South Korea with the national U23 squad in preparation for the Asian championship early next month. VNS

Quang Hai named V.League 2019’s best player

Vietnam’s midfield Nguyen Quang Hai has been recognised for his quality over the past season by being named as the best player in the V.League during the 2019 season, as announced by the Vietnam Professional Football Company.