Universitatea Cluj and Petrolul Ploiești are the surprises of this season, the first occupying the 1st place at the end of the tour in the Superliga, while the Gazians kicked the 2nd place after being equalized in the last minute by Sepsi, although they played with two more men good for a half.
WITH Sabău at the helm, U Cluj finished the tour in the first position of the ranking. Facebook photo
Both teams have one thing in common: they have not spent a single leu on the acquisition of players this season. The two formations focused on bringing in free-of-contract footballers and demonstrated that performance can also be achieved with this strategy: to have a trained eye, to know the job and to do things with your head.
While CFR Cluj, FCSB, Rapid or Universitatea Craiova spent millions of euros on transfers, 8 Superliga teams chose not to spend any money on bringing players. For some it worked, for others it didn’t. Oțelul, Farul, Poli Iași, Botoșani, and newly promoted Unirea Slobozia and Gloria Buzău are also part of the club of teams that have not invested money in transfers.
With players taken for free, at the top of the leaderboard
If big and hand-me-down teams are still blamed for the inhomogeneity of the team, the Transylvanians prove that this excuse has no foundation. U Cluj has only one defeat in 14 games in the Superliga (last night it drew with Farul, 1-1), despite the fact that it brought in no less than 17 new players this summer. With the exception of Vladislav Blănuță, on loan from FCU Craiova, for free, all the others are footballers coming from the position of players free of contract.
The goalkeeper Moldovan, the defenders Cristea, Boboc, Lasure, der Werff and A. Ștefan, the midfielders Ovidiu Popescu, Rață, Oaidă, Codrea and Șfaiț and the forwards Blanuță, Thiam, Berto, Miranyan, Tchassem and Bettaieb are the players who entered at the beginning of the season under the order of Nelutu Sabău. And the coach of the “red caps” knew how to train and motivate them, to complete the team with young people raised in their own backyard, so that they became autumn champions in the conditions where no team beat them, even some were kicked out by the clubs they belonged to.
Last money transfer: 10,000 euros, in 2019
The University’s strategy is not new. The last time Transylvania paid for a player happened more than 5 years ago, when Daniel Pîrvulescu was taken from Pandurii Tg. Jiu in exchange for a small sum of 10,000 euros, writes ProSport. The entire transfer policy is coordinated by Ioan Ovidiu Sabău. However, it must be said that the U benefit from financial stability, the club being financed by the local authorities, and thus can afford to offer good wages.
On the other hand, at Petrolul it is an incomprehensible situation for football lovers. In Ploiești, there is no money for transfers, nor for salaries. As the local support is minimal and the businessmen do not flock to support the club, the “gazers” not only cannot buy players, but have to sell in order to survive. The most recent example is the transfer of the goalkeeper Zima to FCSB, the money received in exchange for him being immediately used to pay two outstanding salaries of the players.
Oil, an incomprehensible situation
Even in this state of uncertainty, the Oil were 2nd at the start of the 15th round and fell (before last night’s games) to 4th due to St. Gheorghe, when he escaped victory, although Sepsi played with two men eliminated from the first half. Ploiești, who rely this season also on old players, but also on many brought for free – Keita, Mateiu, Tudorie, Ricadinho, Denis Radu, Akosah-Bempah, Roche, Stancovici, Stănică, Baiano, Jahic or Moussaki – are, in the given conditions, the surprise of the championship.
Whether these situations are conjunctural or not, time will tell. The lack of money in the Romanian championship can be a long-term alarm signal, even if we see that the performance can be done with a head, with good eyes or with an empty stomach. In fact, in the ranking of top scorers in the Super League, 5 of the first 7 scorers came to their teams as players free of contract: Selmani (Dinamo, 7 goals), Dan Nistor (U Cluj, 6 goals), Mihai Bordeianu ( Poli Iasi, 5 goals), Dmitro Pospelov (Unirea Slobozia, 5 goals) and Constantin Budescu (Gloria Buzău, 5 goals).
FCSB spent 4.65 million euros on transfers at the beginning of the season. The champion is closely followed by CFR Cluj, with 3 million euros.
