Archive
Saint-Etienne’s Banel Nicolita requested by one of Premier League’s top clubs!
Tottenham Hotspur is either the club or the kind of club that is currently in talks with ASSE, according to a fresh statement released on TV by Nicolita’s agent, Traian Gherghisan. “In December, two big clubs came after him, but Saint-Etienne’s president refused. Now, he will probably accept, as we’re talking about one of the important teams from the Premier League.”
Bought from Steaua a year ago for 700.000 Euros, Banel Nicolita adjusted really well to Ligue 1 and could now generate a profit of more than 2 million Euros. The Romanian right winger, now 27, has featured in 19 matches for the French outfit, scoring three goals and providing 6 assists, coping really well with the physical side of the game – one of his strongest points. Gifted with a great engine, work-ethic and a fantastic humble attitude, he’s not good enough, in my opinion, in terms of skill and vision to make such a huge step, so I could see him playing for a mid-table team from the Premier League, not at a higher level. But I’ve been wrong before… 
CFR completes a hattrick: three Italian players for Cluj!
- After Roberto De Zerbi (30) and Felice Piccolo (26), CFR Cluj signed a third Italian player, in the very last day of the winter mercato. Davide Bottone (23) comes from Torino and will play for CFR until the end of the season. Bottone is a central midfielder, with one cap for the Italian U21, and has the chance to become the first Italian to have played in Liga I, as De Zerbi is stil out and Piccolo wasn’t even on the bench for the match against Unirea Urziceni.
- Rapid announced the signing of Diego Ciz (28), who has a booked flight to Bucharest and is expected to sign a contract until the summer. Ciz, who can play as a full back on both sides, comes as a backup solution for left back Vladimir Bozovic (28), but could become a good replacement for Cristian Sapunaru (25), on the right, in case the ban received in Portugal will keep him from playing for Rapid. The defender from Uruguay belongs to Olimpia and comes in Romania on a loan deal that can be turned into a definitive transfer next summer. Read more…
Mutu?
I’d rather think of Chivu! And wish him to recover quickly and completely.
Case and post closed!
Grozav signs for Standard Liege
- Gheorghe Grozav (19) has become officially a Standard Liege player. The promising winger signed a three years long deal on January 20 and the Belgian club has the option to extend it for another two seasons.
- Steaua’s skipper and long-serving player (eight consecutive seasons for the red and blue outfit) Sorin Ghionea (30) rejoins former coach Oleg Protasov at FC Rostov. He agreed to a three years long contract and will earn 300.000 EUR per season at the Russian club.Rostov played just 100.000 EUR for his transfer.
- CFR Cluj and Andre Leao (24) parted ways and the Portuguese central midfielder will join Pacos Ferreira, after agreeing to a three years long contract. Bought from Beira-Mar in 2007 for 250.000 EUR, he was recently released on a free transfer, after collecting only 25 matches in the first division for the Romanian club.
- Rapid Bucharest completed the loan deal of Latvian striker Edgars Gauracs (21). The Romanian club paid 50.000 EUR and has an option to make the deal permanent for another 450.000 EUR in the summer.
“Wonderful” deal for Standard Liege
The title might turn out to be true, but right now it’s just a word game, because “wonderful” can be translated in Romanian in “grozav”. And Grozav, Gheorghe Grozav to be precise, will move to Liege, in a deal that will cost the Belgian club 350.000 EUR plus 15% of the next transfer fee (but not less than 400.000 EUR!). The forward has already been tested by Romanian coach Laszlo Boloni last summer and proably has been monitorred eversince.
Grozav (19) has been promoted by Unirea Alba Iulia last season and helped the club achieve promotion, playing this year in sixteen out of seventeen matches in the first division, scoring two goals in the proces. He’s a talented youngster, right footed, good dribbling and technique, who likes to play as a winger and joins the coach who promoted a lot Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at Sporting Lisbon. Rest assured, I won’t go with this any further 
.
Cocis to Portsmouth – update
According to prosport.ro, Romanian international Razvan Cocis (26) will move to Portsmouth as a free player, after three seasons spent at Lokomotiv Moscow. Cocis is an attacking midfielder and was a regular starter for the National Team undet Victor Piturca. Lately, though, he had fell out of favor in Russia and struggled to catch the eye of new coach, Razvan Lucescu. He has 32 caps and 2 goals for Romania and, interesting fact, he spent three seasons at each club he has played for until now: Universitatea Cluj, Sheriff Tiraspol and Lokomotiv. Another interesting fact: he hasn’t played in the Romanian first division and also refused a return home this winter, in spite of several offers from all the big clubs.
Cocis is the type of hard-working midfielder, attacking minded, and can cover almost any position, showing nice versatility, tactical discipline, good work ethic and decent technique. My problem with him: I cannot put my finger on his precise role, the place on the pitch from where he could be most effective. Right footed, lacks the vision and the passing precision for a place in the middle of the park, but his stamina and workrate would definitely make him a valuable box-to-box midfielder. I’d see him as a central-right midfielder in a midfield of five, because he’s not gifted enough to play as central attacking midfielder or as a winger.
Anyway, probably manager Avram Grant saw something in him and has a scenario for this player already. The good news is that, after five years, another Romanian player makes it into the Premier League and, this time, I am sure that he will only prove that you can also find in Romania players that are serious, disciplined, who can adjust to the league and won’t cause off the pitch problems.
Update: The player will get 700.000 EUR per year, for the next three seasons, but has a release-for-free clause in his contract, in case Pompey won’t avoid relegation.
Done deals (II)
- Bogdan Mara (32) stayed unemployed for just a day. The experienced winger, recently released by CFR Cluj, signed for Iraklis (11th place in the Greek first division) until June 2011. He’ll get 180.000 EUR per season and will be helped to adjust to the new environment by former Steaua and Kaiserslautern centre-forward Victoras Iacob, while playing alongside footballers like Sam Dalla Bona or Matias Lequi.
- Rapid Bucharest signed Serbian defender Nikola Beljic (25). He rejoins former team-mates from OFK Belgrade, Djordje Ivelja (24, central midfielder) and Vladimir Bozovic (28, left back) and will spend the next three seasons at the Bucharest side. Beljic was in the last six months of his current deal and Rapid paid a 50.000 UER transfer fee to get him now.
- Rapid also announced to have agreed terms with both Ventspils and Edgars Gauracs (21). The striker is expected in Romania tomorrow, when he should sign the contract. The Latvian U21 international comes on loan until the end of the season and Rapid has a buying option in the summer.
- Dinamo Bucharest allowed George Curca (28) to return to Farul Constanta, where he had spent the previous nine seasons. The goalkeeper was on loan until the summer, when Dinamo could have made the deal permanent in exchange of 250.000 EUR.
Pancu to CSKA Sofia
Daniel Gabriel Pancu (32) moves to Bulgaria and signed a contract with CSKA until June 2011. The versatile and experienced attacking midfielder spent the last year and a half at Terek, in Russia, where he scored 10 goals in 33 appearances. Pancu rejoins former team-mate from Terek Florentin Petre (33) and hopes to win the title with his new club.
Stanga and Buga, to Xanthi
After completing the transfer of Mugurel Buga (32) , who was released by Rapid Bucharest, the Greek side Skoda Xanthi signed another experienced Romanian player. The skipper of Pandurii Targu Jiu, Florin Stanga (31), moves also on a free transfer (had entered the last six months of the current contract, but the board decided to repay the devotion showed by the player, by letting him go without any financial demands).
Buga is a creative forward, technically gifted, who likes to play as a second striker or on the right wing, and, in Romania, has played for just two clubs: FC Brasov (181 games in the league / 41 goals) and Rapid Bucharest (111 / 26). He also has 6 caps for the National Team and 1 goal, but made history for Rapid, becoming the top scorer all-time in European Competitions, with 14 goals scored.
Stanga is a typical defensive midfielder, usually deployed either as anchorman in a 4-1-4-1 system or as a central left midfielder in a flat midfield. Tenacious, hard working, decent technique, quite often scored decisive goals for Pandurii, with surprising runs from the midfield line and appearances in the opposition’s box. Scored 10 goals in 108 appearances for Pandurii, but impressed with his work ethic and consistency, playing in over 80% of Pandurii’s matches in the league in the past three and a half seasons!
Buga and Stanga were also colleagues at FC Brasov, between 2002 and 2004!
