Marked for Samuel Teles
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at FCSB
Darius Olaru and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“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 FCSB, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at FCSB training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Miculescu 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; FCSB are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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 Ştefan Târnovanu is on it.
Market12 Oct 2026
The Darius Olaru story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Darius Olaru signs something — a contract at FCSB or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
9 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 Sep 2026
FCSB do the business in Europe
3‑1. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and FCSB came through the finding-out well against Spartak Trnava.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Age has not caught Juri Cisotti yet — 8.27
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.27 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.26 for the rest of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Juri Cisotti 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 FCSB this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at FCSB training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Benković 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was David Miculescu’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to FCSB.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Darius Olaru was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.30. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Juri Cisotti left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Juri Cisotti will call it something else in private.
In brief
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The terraces
A long trip to Petrolul Ploiești worth making
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Squad
FCSB are still strangers to each other
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 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 FCSB, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Aug 2026
Samuel Teles arrives at FCSB in a $980.0K statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. FCSB have paid $980.0K for Samuel Teles, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Market24 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
FCSB get their man
The chase for Daniel Pîrvulescu ended with $550.0K changing hands and Corvinul Hunedoara out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at FCSB
Filip Benković 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
FCSB asked and CSKA Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Benković, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at FCSB
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Miculescu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
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Squad
10 new faces, and FCSB are still learning each other
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
Samuel Teles needs a bigger stage
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from CFR Cluj for Oleksandr Romanchuk 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.
Market24 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 Universitatea Craiova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Aug 2026
Business is business: Samuel Teles goes
FCSB paid $980.0K and Universitatea Craiova took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Universitatea Craiova asked and Botosani said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad24 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 Universitatea Craiova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Paul Balasa, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 Aug 2026
No mercy from FCSB
Botosani will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. FCSB were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$980.0K settles it between the clubs for Samuel Teles
Universitatea Craiova have accepted the money. What FCSB do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market17 Aug 2026
FCSB spend $3.0M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $3.0M has been paid because Tino Kadewere is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zhejiang FC have kept their man, and FCSB go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match15 Aug 2026
FCSB 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
No deal for Zoran Mitrov at that price
FCSB offered $620.0K; Botosani said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market17 Aug 2026
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at FCSB
Filip Benković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
FCSB spend $3.0M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $3.0M for Tino Kadewere, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Levski this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Market17 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Universitatea Craiova asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Universitatea Craiova did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Carlos Mora beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Steven Nsimba, and the manager let it.
Market17 Aug 2026
FCSB are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Universitatea Craiova will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad17 Aug 2026
6 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.