Adrian Popa (born 24 July 1988) is a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

club

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

Club career

Early years

Popa was one of the most proficient players of the Politehnica Timișoara reserve team, and was loaned to

CS Buftea Club Sportiv LPS HD Clinceni, commonly known as Clinceni and formerly known as ''Academica Clinceni'' is a Romanian amateur football club based in Clinceni, Ilfov County, currently playing in the Liga IV - Ilfov County. In the summer of 2022 f ...

and Gloria Buzău.

Universitatea Cluj

In July 2009, Popa signed a contract with

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

. Although he showed impressive skills and helped the team get promoted to the first division, he left the club after one year.

Concordia Chiajna

In 2010, Popa joined

. He contributed to the club's promotion to the first division and was kept for the following season.

FCSB

On 15 August 2012, Popa signed a five-year contract with

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian football league system, Romanian league system, t ...

for an undisclosed transfer fee. One week later, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 away win over

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. The club was founded in 1964 and for 44 years competed in the top tier of Lithuanian ...

in the Europa League play-off round's first leg. He played over 200 games during his spell with the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

-based club.

Reading

On 27 January 2017, it was announced that Popa agreed to transfer to English team

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

after reaching the final six months of his contract with FCSB. The transfer was made official three days later, with Popa signing with Reading until the summer of 2020. His first goal came on 17 March 2017, scoring Reading's second in injury time in a 2–0 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

at the

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a 39,732-capacity association football stadium located in Owlerton, a north-western suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since its opening in 1899. The ground has been sub ...

Loan to Al-Taawon

On 29 January 2018, Reading confirmed that Popa had joined Saudi Arabian side

Al-Taawon Al Taawoun Football Club ( ar, التعاون, lit=Cooperation) is a professional multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The football team competes in the Saudi Professional League, the top tier of Saudi Football. The club play the ...

on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season.

Loan to Ludogorets Razgrad

On 20 December 2018, Reading announced that Popa had moved to Ludogorets Razgrad on loan for the rest of the 2018–19 season.

Voluntari

On 16 October 2020, Popa signed a one-year contract with

FC Voluntari Fotbal Club Voluntari (), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional football club based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga I. Founded in 2010, it has been playing since the 2015–16 seas ...

Steaua București

On 22 September 2021, Popa signed a two-year contract with his childhood team, Steaua București.

International career

Popa made his debut for the Romania senior team in October 2012, in a

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

match against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Popa goal.''

Honours

Steaua București *

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

: 2014–15, 2019–20 *

Cupa Ligii The Cupa Ligii ( en, League Cup) was Romania's secondary club football tournament. Like the Cupa României, it was played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. History It is unclear when the competition was first created, as there are no ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994, ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Ludogorets Razgrad *

First Professional Football League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Popa, Adrian 1988 births Footballers from Bucharest Living people Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Politehnica Timișoara players LPS HD Clinceni players FC Gloria Buzău players FC Universitatea Cluj players CS Concordia Chiajna players FC Steaua București players FC Voluntari players CSA Steaua București footballers English Football League players Reading F.C. players Romania men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England Al Taawoun FC players Saudi Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria