FCSB star Darius Olaru has been named the Romanian league’s Player of the Year with Rangers reportedly weighing up a summer bid, via Sport.
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Sunday’s Scottish League Cup final defeat to Celtic was not that Kyogo Furuhashi was given the freedom of Hampden Park as he tied green and white ribbons around the trophy, but that Rangers failed to muster up anything resembling a fightback.
Mick Beale’s side managed only two shots on target over the 90 minutes; Alfredo Morelos’ 64th minute consolation counting for nothing. And, with Malik Tillman off-the-pace, Rangers lacked the thrust of the creativity from central areas to break Celtic’s resistance.
Rangers are big fans of Romania international Darius Olaru
How Beale would have loved to bring a player of Olaru’s defence-splitting, lock-picking talents off the bench.
The Romania international scored six goals and set up 12 more last season; long-time FCSB chief Mihail Stoica even claiming that Olaru is a midfielder ‘like Kevin de Bruyne’, capable of creating something out of nothing with a burst of nitrous-powered acceleration or a surgical through ball.
“He in very good shape,” former Hungary international Vasile Miriuta tells Playsport. “At this age (of his career), he should play abroad. I’m talking about a top team. He is in the best shape of his life.”
Miriuta, one suspects, would give a potential summer switch to Ibrox his seal of approval. Per ProSport, that Olaru is still on the radar of a Rangers side who have been keeping tabs on the 24-year-old throughout much of the Ross Wilson era.
The best player in Romania
Rangers, the report adds, plan to scout Olaru again in the build-up to the summer window. Should the nine-cap playmaker impress, Rangers could then enter negotiations and test FCSB’s resolve with a bid in the region of £5.5 million.
If Olaru does end up at Ibrox, he will arrive as officially the best footballer in all of Romania. Olaru, this weekend, was named 2022’s Player of the Year at the AFAN Awards.
Few would argue that he doesn’t deserve it. And, considering his importance to the FCSB cause, no wonder the club formerly known as Steaua Bucharest are unwilling to consider lowball offers for a talismanic presence.
“FCSB is asking a lot for Olaru,” says outspoken president Gigi Becali (DigiSport). “There are several teams who follow him. Who want him. But in the winter, they would hardly pay large sums of money.
“Probably, in the summer, it will be possible to sell him, if everything goes well.”
By July, Olaru will have just one year remaining on his contract. FCSB want closer to £7 million, but may have no choice to accept a lower fee.
