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De Zerbi has postponed his arrival to CFR
- Poli Iasi – Rapid and Pandurii – Astra will be played, after both home teams have settled the financial problems that had forced the Romanian Professional League (LPF) to announce that these two teams risk of not being allowed to play in the first round.
- Steaua‘s owner, Gigi Becali, confirmed that the club has finally reached an agreement with APOP/Kyniras from Cyprus, regarding the much negotiated transfer of Senegalese central defender Gora Tall (24). Steaua will pay 70.000 EUR for his loan until the summer and 130.000 EUR for a permanent deal.
- Roberto De Zerbi (30) is still in Italy, although he signed a contract with CFR Cluj. Coach Andrea Mandorlini is fully aware of the midfielder’s medical problems, who is expected to continue his recovery for at least two more weeks, and will probably leave him out of the club’s most important games of the season.
- Ceahlaul’s most important transfer, Cosmin Barcauan (31) will miss the debut match, against Steaua, as OFI refused to release his work permit, until the central defender sent an official complaint to FIFA.
- International Curtea de Arges officially anounced the signing of George Blay (29). The right back spent three seasons in Romania, playing for Dinamo Bucharest, where he was brought by former coach Mircea Rednic, but hasn’t been able to find a team since his departure from the red and white outfit, in the summer of 2009.
- Liviu Ganea (21) returns to Astra Ploiesti, where he had already spent the first half of season, on loan from Dinamo. It seems that the conflict between Astra’s boss Ioan Niculae and Dinamo’s board is history (the wealthy Niculae being a big fan of the Red Dogs!) and now the small club from Ploiesti can count again on two players that left a good impression in the first half of season, Ganea and the full back Eugen Craciun. Half way through the season, Ganea is Astra’s top scorer, with six goals scored in twelve games.
Today’s press
- After the signing of Razvan Cocis, Portsmouth seems interested to capture Robinson Zapata Rufay (31), in order to secure a backup solution for veteran goalie David James. The Colombian keeper has been a key player for Steaua since his arrival in 2007 from Cucuta (78 matches in the league, in two and a half seasons) and managed to turn in his favor a difficult scenario at the beginning of the current season. Steaua had bought the promising Ciprian Tatarusanu for a huge transfer fee and tried to impose him in goal, but Zapata stayed calm, trained well and once he got a chance to return, showed an impressive form and regained his status and regular place in the first eleven.
- Dinamo’s attacking midfielder Adrian Cristea (26) has been linked with Espanyol Barcelona. Apparently, the Primera club wanted the talented, but rarely motivated player on a loan deal, until the summer, with the option to make the deal permanent afterwards, but Dinamo rejected, as the Bucharest side would prefer an unconditionned sale right now.
- Pawel Golanski (27) is expected to extend his deal with Steaua today, a move that would block Rui Duarte’s (29) transfer from FC Brasov. The American midfielder Josh Tudela (25) also asked the club to decide on his future, although coach Mihai Stoichita would prefer to extend the trial period and further test the player during the team’s second training camp.
Dica, back in 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.
Radu Baicu
• 15 years of continuous work in scouting, for top clubs and companies;
• Worked for clubs like Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hannover 96, covering the Romanian market;
• Worked for Birmingham based company ‘The Scouting Network’ (www.tsn.co.uk) as a football scout;
• Worked for Zurich based company Boutique Football as a scouting network coordinator;
• International scout for Young Boys Bern for 2 years, covering Eastern European football.
• Working for the past 5 years as an international scout for a top French club.
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