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Young Vietnamese U17 star among most expensive U17 Asian players

TB (summary) • April 12, 2025 11:13

Young striker Tran Gia Bao of the Vietnam U17 team is among the most expensive players in Asia at the U17 age group.

Tran Gia Bao left a good impression at the U17 Asian Championship

Shining with a successful penalty kick that helped U17 Vietnam draw with U17 Japan in the group stage of the 2025 AFC U17 Championship, Tran Gia Bao received much attention from experts and fans.

The 17-year-old striker also holds the record as the youngest player in history to score in the V-League when he scored for Hoang Anh Gia Lai at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 12 days.

Not only is he the only name of the U17 Vietnam team that has been promoted to the first team and plays in the V-League, Gia Bao is also in the top most expensive U17 players in Asia at present.

According to Transfermarkt, Gia Bao ranks 14th with a value of 50,000 Euros, equal to Isfandyar Abdillah (Indonesia), Lawrence Wong (Australia)... and several other players.

The most expensive Southeast Asian player in the U17 age group is currently Arkhan Kaka of Indonesia with a value of 75,000 Euros. Meanwhile, the most expensive Asian player under 17 is Talal Haji of Saudi Arabia with 800,000 Euros, belonging to Al-Riyadh SC Club in the Saudi Pro League.

Gia Bao is in the Top most expensive players in Asia at the age of U17

If we only count the players competing in the 2025 AFC U17 Championship finals, Tran Gia Bao is one of the three rare names valued by Transfermarkt. This striker has the second highest value in the AFC U17 Championship, equal to Quinn MacNicol of Australia U17 (both 50,000 Euros), behind the most expensive Asian U17 player, Haine Eames, also of Australia U17, with 125,000 Euros.

With rapid advancement and proven ability in the U17 Asian tournament, Gia Bao is expected to be a future mainstay of the U20, U23 and Vietnam national teams.

Tran Gia Bao was born on January 3, 2008 in Lam Dong, with a height of 1.8 m. Gia Bao began to attract attention when he was called up to the first team of the mountain town team and played in the V-League 2024/25 despite his young age.

Up to now, Gia Bao has played 3 times for Hoang Anh Gia Lai in V-League 2024/2025 and is predicted by experts to have significant progress in the near future if he is trained and continuously tested in the top tournament of Vietnamese football.

TB (summary)