Premier League strugglers Everton are in talks to sign Octavian Popescu but the FCSB starlet has the talent to play for a club like Barcelona and Real Madrid, former Romania international Ioan Andone tells DigiSport.
The 2019 Under 21 European Championships came just too early for 19-year-old Popescu.
It’s tempting to wonder if an exciting Romania side, one who defeated England and gave Germany a run for their money, could have gone one step further than the semi-finals if they had arguably the most promising young player in a generation pulling the strings.
With nine goals and four assists in his breakthrough season at the club formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, Popescu is a footballer with the world at his feet.
And, according to Digi Sport, Everton have opened talks with a player who FCSB owner Gigi Becali values at a staggering 150 million euros.
Compared to Messi and Ronaldo
“Great talent. There has not been a player of his quality in Romanian football for a long time,” says Andone, who believes that Popescu should take an ‘intermediate’ step before joining a bonafide European giant.
“It would be stupid if he went to a strong team, in a strong league. He might not play! He’d adapt to a club like Benfica sooner.
“He can play for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid (but) Sevilla suits him.”
It remains to be seen how Andone feels about the prospect of Popescu putting pen to paper with Everton. He’d certainly find first-team opportunities easier to come by at Goodison Park than, say, the Camp Nou or the Wanda Metropolitano.
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Becali has compared Popescu, a versatile winger at his most effective cutting in from the left, to a young Cristiano Ronaldo. Former Steaua youngster Robert Nita, however, believes that the twice-capped teen shares similarities with another Ballon D’Or winning superstar.
“Everyone sees him as the new Messi,” Nita says.
“Let’s see if he adapts to another environment where he has a much higher margin of progress than in Romania.”
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