Reading FC will be keen to avoid repeat of Romanian deal, it's not George Puscas | OneFootball

Adrian Popa's move to the Select Car Leasing Stadium just didn't work out for the best in the end.

Reading enjoyed a fairly interesting January 2017 window, with the then-Championship side in the mix for promotion under Jaap Stam at that point.

Having done brilliantly during the first half of the 2016/17 season, the Thai owners were always likely to back Stam in the transfer market, and five signings came in.

In the end, the quintet, as a collective, didn't achieve as much as Royals fans would have been hoping.

Reece Oxford and Lewis Grabban were brilliant loan signings on paper and in fairness to the latter, he was able to make some valuable goalscoring contributions.

But he was played out of position on numerous occasions by Stam - and wasn't always able to shine because of that.

Former West Ham man Oxford, meanwhile, didn't make that much of an impact, and fellow loan signing Jordon Mutch was poor for a decent chunk of his spell at the Select Car Leasing Stadium following his temporary switch from Crystal Palace.

Those three loan additions joined during the latter stages of the window, with permanent signings Tiago Ilori and Adrian Popa joining before that.

Ilori looked to be a good signing and to his credit, he managed to stay fit for a very decent percentage of his spell in Berkshire, before he moved on to Sporting Lisbon.

But he didn't always perform up to expectations.

Adrian Popa's spell at Reading FC didn't work out for the best

Popa, meanwhile, joined from Steaua Bucharest for an undisclosed fee - and looked set to be a useful addition.

Brought in to provide the likes of Roy Beerens and Garath McCleary with more competition for a starting spot, he wasn't exactly able to establish himself as a regular starter and drive up performance levels in the wing area.

He showed plenty of energy and some promise, but he registered just one goal and two assists for the senior side during his time with the Royals.

Failing to appear in any of the Royals' play-off games at the end of the 2016/17 campaign and rarely featuring during the first half of the 2017/18 season, with Mo Barrow and Sone Aluko coming in during the 2017 summer window, it was no surprise when he was loaned out to Al-Taawon in January 2018.

He also secured a loan move to Ludogorets later on that year, spending the remainder of the 2018/19 campaign in Bulgaria. And the winger returned to Steaua Bucharest on a temporary spell for 2019/20, before he was released in the summer of 2020.

The player barely featured in the blue and white hoops, considering he spent three-and-a-half years with the Berkshire outfit.

With this in mind, his spell at the SCL Stadium can't be seen as a successful one, despite playing a small part in the club's 2016/17 promotion push.

He arguably provided better value for money than George Puscas, who came in from Inter Milan for a reported £8m, but failed to make enough of an impact for the Royals.

But that isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Popa, considering Puscas and Sone Aluko are seen as two of the worst value-for-money signings that the club have ever made, along with Emerse Fae.

Adrian Popa will still cherish Sheffield Wednesday moment

One moment Popa will really cherish is his goal at Hillsborough.

The Royals were firmly in the promotion mix at that point and up against a promotion rival, so this clash in South Yorkshire on 17th March 2017 was a fairly important one.

Yann Kermorgant struck in the first half to put the visitors 1-0 up, but it was the Owls who probably had the most chances in that game, with Ali Al-Habsi's saves keeping the score at 1-0 until late on.

And in the 90th minute, Danny Williams' header and speed allowed the Royals to break away, with the American making an important tackle.

This challenge resulted in the ball falling to Popa, who was able to wriggle past one defender, pop the ball past Morgan Fox and tap the ball into an empty net, with Keiren Westwood out of his goal after coming up for a late corner.

This was an important victory for the Berkshire side, who were able to solidify their place in the play-offs and climb five points above Wednesday at that point.