Scouting Romania

The attacking midfielder returns to Liga I after two unconvincing seasons spent abroad. CFR Cluj announced today that the player will be loaned until the end of the season, when a permanent move will be discussed.

Bought by Catania in 2008 (I’m sure Walter Zenga had some explaining to do…), played only three games in Serie A and, after a terrible season, was loaned to Greek club Iraklis, where he scored three times in 13 matches and probably re-gained some of the lost confidence and match fitness.

Dica (29) was an excellent aquisition for Steaua, playing and scoring regularly for the Bucharest side both in the league (54 goals in 125 matches) and in the European competitions.  He also collected 30 caps for the national team, scoring 9 times, but his international career suffered once he left Romania. A gifted player, no doubt, Dica misses in my opinion one important quality, which is pace, and going to Italy, although very tempting, was a bad decision for him, who could have made an impact in leagues that offer a bit of pace to attackers, like Germany.

Dica can play almost everywhere in attack, but offers most to the team as a central attacking midfielder. And CFR Cluj really missed a creative player in this area, all its midfielders being defensive minded and lacking the ability to pose a threat in the last 25 meters. So, at least theoretically, this looks like a good, logical move and CFR proved again to have a board that does its homework during the season and moves well once the mercato window is open.