The Botosani Courier
Squad19 Jul 2027
Alexandru Creţu damages knee ligaments — 101 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 101 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Emmanuel Samba hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botosani can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Jul 2027
Business is business: Rijad Sadiku goes
Voluntari paid $920.0K and Botosani took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Botosani
Ugochukwu Iwu 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Botosani
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Botosani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giannis Anestis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Door shut on Ovidiu Hagi
Botosani asked and Pandurii said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market19 Jul 2027
Botosani promote Razvan Iancu from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Razvan Iancu has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market19 Jul 2027
Sergiu Mitrita steps up from the Botosani academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sergiu Mitrita has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
- Squad No place for Alibek Aliev in the new shape
- The dugout No hiding place for Joris Delle
- Looking ahead A reunion for Mihai Bordeianu