The president of Steaua, Gigi Becali, took advantage of news in the press, about an alleged interest of Benfica in Octavian Popescu, to “put a price” on the player. The media in that country guarantees that the Reds have even observed the 19-year-old player from Steaua Bucharest and Nuno Claro, a former Cluj player, spoke about the qualities of the footballer, who he considers to be “the most talented to play in Romania”.
“If he stays for another year or two, he will be a lost talent. It reminds me of Cristiano Ronaldo at the beginning of his career. Physically, everything. It has to be worked on now. He is a player who has a great future ahead of him. He has to go to another championship where he can also develop his physique. I’ve never seen a player like him in Romania”, he said, quoted by Digi Sport.
However, Benfica’s alleged interest and Nuno Claro’s words reached the ears of Steaua’s president, Gigi Becali, who ruled out the possibility of Popescu heading to Luz.
“There is no official proposal at this point. I think Benfica doesn’t have the money to buy him. I think he also has something of Neymar and even Messi, he is a genius. I sold the Dennis Man for 11 million. I wanted 13 million for Chiriches and ended up selling it for 7. I will never be able to sell Octavian for his real value. I think it’s worth between 100 and 150 million. But selling it at half price, at 50 million euros”, he said.
Octavian Popescu is a left winger who has already won two caps for Romania. In the current season, he has 33 games, in which he scored eight goals and also scored three assists.
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