George Alexandru Pușcaș (; born 8 April 1996) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, on loan from

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

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 ...

, and the

Romania national team Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Club career

Inter Milan

Pușcaș made his Internazionale debut on 1 February 2015 by appearing in the last minutes of a 3–1 loss to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

in the 2014–15 Serie A matchday 21. On 26 February 2015, he made his

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

debut as a substitute replacing

Rodrigo Palacio Rodrigo Sebastián Palacio Alcalde (; born 5 February 1982) is a Argentine basketball player and former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the son of José Ramón Palacio, a historic player of Club Olimpo during the 1980s. ...

in the 89th minute of a 1–0 home win over

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. On 4 April 2014, Pușcaș played his first match as a starter for Internazionale, a 1–1 home draw against

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, he was replaced by

Mateo Kovačić Mateo Kovačić (; born 6 May 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Croatia national team. He is usually deployed in a central or box-to-box role, but can play in deeper po ...

in the 46th minute.

Various loans

On 4 August 2015, Pușcaș, along with his teammate

Gaston Camara Gaston Camara (born 31 March 1996) is a Guinean professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Siracusa Calcio, Sicilian team of Italian championship of Eccellenza. Club career Internazionale Camara played on loan for Intern ...

, were sent on loan at

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

for the 2015–16 season. On 9 August he made his debut for

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

as a substitute replacing

Anthony Partipilo Anthony Partipilo (born 27 October 1994) is an Italian football player. He plays for club Parma. Club career He made his Serie B debut for Bari on 15 December 2012 in a game against Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the pr ...

in the 60th minute of a 2–1 home defeat against

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

in the second round of

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. He played his first Serie B match later on 22 September 2015 in the 4–1 away loss to

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

, starting and playing for 57 minutes. On 22 February he played his first entire match for Bari, a 1–0 away defeat against

Virtus Lanciano S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 is an Italian association football club, based in Lanciano, Abruzzo. It last played in Serie B in 2015–16 as Virtus Lanciano. Virtus Lanciano now competes in youth football only. History The club was founded in ...

. On 1 March, Pușcaș scored twice in a 4–0 home win over

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

. Pușcaș ended his loan to Bari with 18 appearances, 5 goals and 1 assist. On 15 July, Pușcaș was loaned to

side

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

on a 2-years loan deal. On 7 August he made his debut in a match loss 4–2 at penalties after a 0–0 home draw against Salernitana in the second round of

; he was replaced by

Fabio Mazzeo Fabio Mazzeo (born 24 July 1983) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for Potenza. Career Mazzeo started his career at Salernitana. He then played for Serie C2 club Nocerina and Perugia of Serie C1. In August 2009, Mazzeo left fo ...

in the 68th minute. On 27 August he made his Serie B debut for Benevento as a substitute replacing

Fabio Ceravolo Fabio Giovanni Ceravolo (born 5 March 1987) is an Italian footballer who plays as a striker for club Padova. Career Ceravolo played twice for Reggina in the Coppa Italia before joining Atalanta on loan on 20 August 2009, two days before the sta ...

in the 71st minute and scoring his first goal 8 minutes later in a 2–0 home win over SPAL. On 20 September he played his first entire match for Benevento, a 1–1 home draw against

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Italy, with seven natio ...

. On 19 November, Pușcaș scored his second goal, again as a substitute, in the 89th minute of a 4–0 home win over

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. In June 2017 he scored the goal that sealed Benevento's promotion to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. Pușcaș started his second season with Benevento by playing 80 minutes in a 4–0 home defeat against

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

in the third round of

. On 20 August, Pușcaș made his Serie A debut for Benevento in a 2–1 away defeat against Sampdoria. On 3 December 2017, Pușcaș scored his first Serie A goal in the 2–2 home draw versus

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

that gave Benevento their first ever point in the top flight. In January 2018 he was recalled by Inter, thus leaving Benevento with a total of 34 appearances and 8 goals. On 29 January 2018, Pușcaș was again sent on loan, this time returning at

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

. He debuted for his new team five days later in the 2–1 home defeat to

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

, netting his team's only goal in the first half. The following week, in his second appearance, Pușcaș scored his first career hat-trick to give his side the 3–1 win at

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

Palermo

On 8 August 2018, Pușcaș joined

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

and subsequently signed a four-year contract. The deal was reported to be worth €3.25 million plus bonuses. On 3 November 2018, he registered his first league goal for the Sicilian team by scoring in the 90th minute of a 2–1 victory over

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

. At the end of the season, with Palermo relegated to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

, Internazionale exercised their buy back option for the Romanian forward.

Reading

On 7 August 2019, Pușcaș signed for

on a five-year contract from

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

for €8 million euros plus €2 million in bonuses, becoming Reading's most expensive signing in history. He scored his first goal for Reading in an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

tie against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

on 13 August 2019, and also went on to score one of the penalties as Reading won the shoot-out. On 18 August 2019 he scored two goals on his home league debut for the Royals against Cardiff City. Pușcaș scored his first

hat-trick against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 30 November 2019 in a 3-1 victory, with the goals all coming in the space of 4 minutes 54 seconds.

Loans to Pisa and Genoa

On 31 January 2022, Pușcaș returned to Italy, joining

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

on loan with a conditional obligation to buy. On 25 August 2022, Pușcaș moved on a new Italian loan at

International career

Because of his Hungarian ancestry, Pușcaș could have represented

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

via

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

. In 2013, the then-Hungarian head coach

Sándor Egervári Sándor Egervári (born 15 July 1950) is a Hungarian football manager. He attended the University of Physical Education in Budapest and qualified as a football coach in 1983. He has completed the UEFA A and B course and as well as the pro lic ...

went to watch him play in the Romanian second division, but gave up on him by saying that there are already players of his ability in Hungary. Pușcaș scored seven times for Romania under-21 in the 2019 UEFA European Championship qualifiers, as his side won its group and progressed to the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

in Italy. On 18 June 2019, he obtained the

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

from which he scored the opener in a 4–1 victory over

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He netted again in the next group game against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, surpassing

Ionuț Luțu Ionuț is a Romanian masculine given name. The English equivalent is Johnny. Notable persons with that name include: * Ionuț Andrei (born 1985), Romanian bobsledder * Ionuț Badea (born 1975), Romanian footballer * Ionuț Bălan (born 1978) ...

as the highest scorer of the ''Tricolorii mici''. Pușcaș then gave Romania a half-time lead after scoring a double against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, but Romania eventually lost the match 4–2. Pușcaș earned his first full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on 23 May 2018, entering in the 74th minute of a 3–2 win against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. On 17 November that year, he scored his first goal in a 3–0

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

defeat of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Personal life

Born in

Marghita Marghita (; hu, Margitta ; yi, מארגארעטין ''Margaretin'') is a city in Bihor County, Romania. It administers two villages, Cheț (''Magyarkéc'') and Ghenetea (''Genyéte''). Geography Marghita is located in the northern part of the c ...

, Pușcaș is of partial Hungarian descent and can understand the

Hungarian language Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian ...

. His

family name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

, Pușcaș, originates from the Hungarian Puskás.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Individual *''

Gazeta Sporturilor ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' ( en, The Sports Gazette) is a daily Romanian newspaper, and the country's largest and most read sports-related publication. It is owned by Ringier Sportal S.R.L—a joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L. and the Bulgarian ...

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year ( ro, Fotbalistul român al anului), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy ( ro, Trofeul Nicolae Dobrin), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian ...

runner-up: 2019 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

Silver Boot:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Puscas, George 1996 births Living people People from Marghita Sportspeople from Bihor County Romanian footballers Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent Men's association football forwards CF Liberty Oradea players FC Bihor Oradea (1958) players Inter Milan players S.S.C. Bari players Benevento Calcio players Novara F.C. players Palermo F.C. players Reading F.C. players Pisa S.C. players Genoa C.F.C. players Liga II players Serie A players Serie B players English Football League players Romania men's youth international footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England