Celtic were reportedly quoted £8m by Steaua Bucharest owner George Becali for Ovidiu Popescu – so where has a fee of £2.5m come from?
After a court ruled that Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest would have to change their name because it rightfully belongs to an official army team, the club’s owner announced his intentions to repackage the club as FC Sports Becali, The Sun reports.
His name, by the way, is George Becali. And, yes, he was being absolutely serious. Therefore, maybe Celtic should take his claims about Ovidiu Popescu with a pinch of salt.
According to the Daily Record, the madcap owner stated that the Scottish giants had opened talks with Steaua about the future of their 23-year-old midfielder. He also dubbed Popescu ‘the Romanian Frank Lampard’ and claimed that, sooner rather than later, he would command a fee of £20 million.
However, Becali also stated that he had inserted an £8 million buyout clause into the Romanian international’s contract, meaning Celtic could reportedly seal quite the coup by signing one of the most exciting talents in Eastern Europe.
It’s interesting to note though, that earlier in the week the same man claimed the same player could be sold for more than half that amount.
“I said that I’ll let [Popescu] go when it’s good and for the club and for him,” Becali told DigiSport. If he goes now, I’m getting three million euros (£2.5m).”
Clearly, Becali is not going to be easy to negotiate with. Yet, if the owner will indeed consider selling Popescu, the club’s prized asset, for such a fee, Celtic could be on the verge of a very impressive bargain.
However, perhaps they should consider that Becali has talked up Popescu’s value in order to start a bidding war.
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