Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 12:23 / Updated Wednesday, February 18, 2026 12:24
Cristi Balaj (54 years old), former president from CFR Clujconsider that FCSB made a big mistake by not transferring the central midfielder Lindon Emerllahu (23 years old) from the Transylvanian formation.
The Kosovar midfielder was wanted by Gigi Becali (67 years old), but the financier from FCSB did not reach an agreement with Ioan Varga regarding the transfer amount. Later, Emerllahu left CFR Cluj this winter and signed with Polissya Zhytomyr, a team from the first league of Ukraine, being transferred for the sum of 1.5 million euros.
Cristi Balaj believes that FCSB made a mistake not to transfer Lindon Emerllahu: “I was thinking how much he would have helped them”
“FCSB suffered in the midfield. I sat and thought how much Emerllahu would have helped them. There were discussions to get him to FCSB, the amount was as decent as possible, less than what he was later transferred with. 23-year-old international player from Kosovo.
I was talking to my former colleagues, with Zamfir, Mara and Bilașco, that he would have helped them a lot, from my point of view he would have looked much better with Emerllahu, who is an exceptional boy, professional and has an incredible quality”, said Cristi Balaj, according to fanatik.ro.
During the winter mercato period, FCSB sold Adrian Șut to Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, for the sum of approximately 1.5 million euros.
Instead, the champion of the last two editions of the Super League transferred two other central midfielders, Joao Paulo from Oțelul Galați for the sum of approximately 600,000 euros and Afri Arad, brought free of contract.
The other options for the central midfielder position in the FCSB squad are Baba Alhassan and Mihai Lixandru.
Instead, Emerllahu arrived at Polissya Zhytomyr, for whom he has already played in 3 friendly matches. The championship in Ukraine is to resume on February 22.
