Report: West Ham ‘very close’ to signing Romanian starlet for £6.25m

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Romanian outlet Sport.Ro have claimed that West Ham United are ‘very close’ to completing the signing of FC Steaua Bucharest attacking midfielder Darius Olaru – for a fee believed to be in the region of £6.25million.

Olaru, 22, has impressed since joining the Romanian giants in January – who currently sit at the top of the Romanian Liga 1. Playing 13 times for FCSB, Olaru has had a hand in six goals, scoring four and creating two more.

West Ham have become renowned of late for signing players from some of Europe’s lesser leagues. Tomas Soucek has shone since joining from Slavia Prague while Vladimir Coufal has also impressed on the right side of defence.

Young defender Frederik Alves has recently joined from Danish second-tier club Silkeborg, and now Olaru could join West Ham. Olaru is yet to win a Romania cap, but has played 13 times for the Under-21 side.

TBR’s view – Olaru would be a good signing, as a squad player

But he has plenty of potential. Olaru is much like Pablo Fornals in that he is naturally a number 10 but can also play on either flank, and that versatility makes him the ideal squad player – and a good replacement for Robert Snodgrass.

At such a small fee and given his age, Olaru will have time to show West Ham what he is all about. It is a low-risk signing and the Hammers have not been let down by their recent transfer activity, so a move for Olaru makes sense.