‘We are similar’: Reported Everton target thinks he’s ‘the same’ as Andres Iniesta

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With his balletic stride and diminutive frame, Alexandru Cicaldau doesn’t just play like Andres Iniesta – he looks a bit like him too.

And while Craiova’s 23-year-old schemer has barely got out of the starting blocks as he looks to emulate one of the greatest midfielders of the 21st century, a player who honed his defence-splitting talents at the Gheorghe Hagi academy is certainly on the right track.

According to The Mirror (19 July, page 70), Everton are confident of winning the race for Cicaldau, who could be snapped up for just £3.5 million with his contract due to expire in 2022.

The creative kingpin of a thrilling Romania side who battered England en route to the semi-finals of last summer’s U21 European Championships, Cicaldau has further established himself as one of the continent’s hottest young midfielders over the last 12 months.

There was not only eight assists in 2019/20 but 15 goals too – including the odd Beckham-esque free-kick.

Those are numbers that even the great Iniesta himself would be proud of.

“I have always liked Andres Iniesta. I think we have the same style,” the former Vitorul youngster told ProSport.

“There is a big difference in quality, but in style we are similar. He didn’t manage to score much but, with his passes, he played first for the team.”

The man masquerading as the once great Gylfi Sigurdsson could only dream of producing a season like Cicaldau’s, with £45 million Iceland star turning in a series of anonymous displays since the turn of the year to cast doubt on his future at Goodison Park.

In 34 games, the former Swansea talisman has just two goals and three Premier League assists.

It speaks volumes that Cicaldau is just one of a wide array of number tens who have been linked with a move to the blue half of Merseyside of late too, with Lorenzo Pellegrini, Luis Alberto, Todd Cantwell and more emerging as potential targets.

And if the Romanian sensation has just a fraction of Iniesta’s talent, Sigurdsson could be bombed out by Everton quicker than you can say ‘overpriced’.