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In an interview with DigiSport, Romanian club Steaua Bucharest owner Gigi Becali likened the Everton-linked Octavian Popescu to Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 18-year-old Romanian winger has scored nine goals and has three assists for Steaua Bucharest in 33 appearances in all competitions this season. The club owner claimed that Popescu was just like Ronaldo at a young age and had everything required to succeed as a footballer.
The Portuguese was brought in as an 18-year-old winger from Sporting Lisbon by Manchester United in 2003. He developed his physique and quickly became one of the most exciting players in the world.
Becali backed Popescu to follow the same kind of trajectory, saying:
“He reminds me of Cristiano Ronaldo at the beginning of his career. Physically, (he has) everything. He is a player who has a great future ahead of him. He has to go to another league where he can also develop his physique. I’ve never seen a player like him in Romania.”
He added:
“There is no official offer at this point. I don’t think Benfica has the money to buy him. I’ll never be able to sell Tavi for his real value. I think he’s worth between 100 and 150 million. But (I may have to) sell him at half price – at 50 million euros (£42 million).”
While Popescu has been likened to Ronaldo, Becali has a history of over-praising his stars when it comes time to ship them off. He previously compared Olimpiui Morutan to Lionel Messi and Florinel Coman to Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
It will be interesting to see if Popescu can live up to the hype created by his current club's owner.
Manchester United set to sign players in the same mould as Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003?
Regardless, Manchester United have made the announcement of Erik Ten Hag as their new manager. They will now be looking to bring about a change in their transfer approach.
The past few years have seen a plethora of scouting errors and high-profile signings that have simply not worked. The players signed do not necessarily fit in with any particular philosophy. Hence, the Red Devils have failed to look like a team for a majority of this campaign.
Earlier, the club was known to promote youngsters from the academy or elsewhere who would go on to develop as world-class stars. Quite a few critics and supporters have called for younger, hungrier players to be signed who can complement the talent that is already at the club.
Manchester United are finally expected to give a manager enough time and support to bring his own vision to reality with ten Hag. The past few years have seen a plethora of world-class managers being sacked before they can build their own teams. This includes the likes of Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The coming time may prove to be the most exciting since Sir Alex Ferguson's days at Old Trafford.
