Two goals and a mark of 8.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Luca Băsceanu, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.07
A mark of 8.07 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Diadiouly Camara is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tudor Oltean was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
That is the business done at ASA Târgu Mureș until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The deal that would have taken Vlad Bogdan to Oțelul Galați has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to ASA Târgu Mureș with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at ASA Târgu Mureș who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonio Cruceru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Antonio Cruceru is on it.
CSM Reșița next, and one man in the ASA Târgu Mureș dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASA Târgu Mureș this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CFR Cluj have kept their man, and ASA Târgu Mureș go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tudor Oltean is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. ASA Târgu Mureș lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ASA Târgu Mureș will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ASA Târgu Mureș have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from CSM Slatina for George Ganea was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A brace, and Luca Băsceanu takes the afternoon — 8.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Luca Băsceanu provided it, and the 8.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ASA Târgu Mureș this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Antonio Cruceru again, and this time the name on the line is CSM Slatina. ASA Târgu Mureș are listening politely and promising nothing.
FK Csíkszereda paid $220.0K and ASA Târgu Mureș took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
ASA Târgu Mureș asked and Apolonia Fier said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A 2‑1 win over Concordia Chiajna, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universitatea Craiova can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicuşor Bancu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Universitatea Craiova, and 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicuşor Bancu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Samuel Teles and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luca Băsceanu and Universitatea Craiova agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Răzvan Sava's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Răzvan Sava knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Universitatea Craiova, and 0 appearances in 40 say he has earned the hearing.
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The deal that would have taken Silviu Lung to CFR Cluj has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Universitatea Craiova with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Universitatea Cluj have kept their man, and Universitatea Craiova go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from Farul Constanța for Ştefan Baiaram was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Two goals and a mark of 8.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The chase for Andrei Gorcea ended with $280.0K changing hands and UTA Arad out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Something was said to Simon Elisor and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A 2‑1 win over Voluntari, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Luca Băsceanu, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.04
A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“I watch every Universitatea Craiova game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at CSM Reșița runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Universitatea Craiova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 96th minute. Gloria Bistrița will replay every second of the added time for a week.
7.95, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I watch every Universitatea Craiova game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Eibar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Bogdan Hagi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Universitatea Craiova dressing room was either.
12 seasons and 424 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Luca Băsceanu, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.71
A mark of 7.71 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ştefan Baiaram and Universitatea Craiova agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nicuşor Bancu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Universitatea Craiova asked and Petrolul Ploiești said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Luca Băsceanu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.