The Petrolul Courier
Squad3 Jul 2028
Viktor Baier damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match3 Jul 2028
Petrolul refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Nicusor Ratiu breaks a bone — 40 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Jul 2028
Ben Yagan is on his way
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Petrolul is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Cosmin Cicaldau in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Ciprian Moldovan signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ciprian Moldovan and Petrolul agree another 3 years.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Intake day at the Petrolul academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Market3 Jul 2028
The Ianis Chiriches story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ianis Chiriches signs something — a contract at Petrolul or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market3 Jul 2028
Ianis Coman leaves for nothing
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ianis Coman leaves Petrolul the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
In brief
- Market Bogdan Ratiu leaves for nothing
- Boardroom Petrolul board back the manager