Article by Sergiu Alexandru – Published Friday, December 12, 2025, 4:51 p.m. / Updated Friday, December 12, 2025, 4:51 p.m.
Gigi Becali, FCSB boss, announced that he wants to bet on a new kid in the next period: David Popa.
The 18-year-old right winger caught the attention of Gigi Becali in the match FCSB U19 played against Akademia Puskas, in the Youth League. And the boss of the red-blues announced that he will call the left-footed player to the senior team.
Gigi Becali is betting on a new kid: David Popa
“I saw a kid with number 7, I watched the game too. I called MM and told him that number 7 is coming to the first team. I don't even know his name. David Popa I think. He's gang.
I liked it so much, he enters the opponent with the ball, he does like Hagi. You will see David Popa in the new team. We'll see if he's the new Hagi, but I said he should come to the first team. The master sees differently than the servants”, said Gigi Becali, at Fanatik.
- The footballer who measures 1.62 m was raised by FCSB and played for the Romanian junior national team, from U15 to U19. At the senior level, he has two matches at Poli Iași, where he was loaned between July 2024 and February 2025, and five with the red-blue senior team
- He made three appearances in the final stages of the 2023-2024 play-off season (one minute with Craiova University, 8 with CFR Cluj and 45 with Rapid), one half in the UCL preliminaries, on July 16, 2024 with Virtus, and one match (33 minutes) with UTA Arad, in this Romanian Cup season.
Becali also praised David Popa in May
In May 2024, after his debut at FCSB, Gigi Becali compared Popa with Alex Mitriță.
“I called Mihai (no – Mihai Stoica) after two phases and told him that Popa will be a footballer. He is like Mitriță. He will be a great footballer. Just so we could bring him, we also took his parents to the children's center at FCSB”, said Becali.
How David Popa plays
Tony da Silva, who had David Popa at Poli Iași, talked to Gazeta Sporturilor about the 18-year-old midfielder. And he explained how it plays and what its qualities are.
“He is a very talented player. He is very intense and aggressive with and without the ball, with great speed and technique. Personally, I've always used him on the right wing to come in from the flank and attack inside areas with the ball on his left foot.
He always works to the limit and is very ambitious. He is a player full of contradictions. Individualist, but a team player, who fights to the end. And he has the necessary personality to change the moments of the game”, Tony told GSP.ro.
