Marked for Florin Nedelcearu
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 2026
$6.1M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Match29 Aug 2026
Astra throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Voluntari the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Astra will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Astra, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $6.1M sale of Andrei Dragusin
He is going to Oleksandriya, the club has $6.1M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market31 Aug 2026
Steven Nsimba arrives at Astra in a $890.0K statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Astra have paid $890.0K for Steven Nsimba, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Aug 2026
The Mihai Nita conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Portimonense will make the call about Mihai Nita this week. Astra have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Viitorul had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market17 Aug 2026
Astra spend $1.2M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.2M has been paid because Mihail Caimacov is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Match15 Aug 2026
Astra cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Astra
Florin Nedelcearu 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Mihail Caimacov from Slaven Belupo for $1.2M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecce have kept their man, and Astra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Mihai Nita
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market10 Aug 2026
$16.9M from Club Brugge for Vlad Tanase. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 46. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market10 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Astra say no — this time
The offer from Sambenedettese for Cosmin Nedelcearu 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.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Astra sell a favourite for $16.9M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Vlad Tanase was one of the reasons people came, and $16.9M does not replace that by itself.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: FCSB have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nicusor Burca. The answer from Astra has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with CSKA Sofia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mihai Nita and Astra agree another 5 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Astra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Bogdan Cicaldau, whose 7 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Andrei Dragusin, whose 7 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match1 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 23‑1 against Viitorul, and it could have been more.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Sergiu Balasa, whose 5 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Adrian Dragusin could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.68
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.68, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.43, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Vlad Tanase again, and this time the name on the line is Club Brugge. Astra are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$880.0K on the table at Slaven Belupo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.