| Adrian Popa | |
| Birth Date: | 24 July 1988 |
| Birth Place: | Bucharest, Romania |
| Height: | 1.70 m |
| Position: | Winger |
| Currentclub: | CSA Steaua București |
| Clubnumber: | 77 |
| Youthyears1: | –2005 |
| Youthclubs1: | CSȘ 1 Pajura |
| Years1: | 2005–2009 |
| Clubs1: | Politehnica II Timișoara |
| Caps1: | 87 |
| Goals1: | 26 |
| Years2: | 2007–2008 |
| Clubs2: | → CS Buftea (loan) |
| Caps2: | 11 |
| Goals2: | 2 |
| Years3: | 2009 |
| Clubs3: | → Gloria Buzău (loan) |
| Caps3: | 12 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Years4: | 2009–2010 |
| Clubs4: | Universitatea Cluj |
| Caps4: | 24 |
| Goals4: | 3 |
| Years5: | 2010–2012 |
| Clubs5: | Concordia Chiajna |
| Caps5: | 60 |
| Goals5: | 10 |
| Years6: | 2012–2017 |
| Clubs6: | Steaua București |
| Caps6: | 137 |
| Goals6: | 20 |
| Years7: | 2017–2020 |
| Clubs7: | Reading |
| Caps7: | 15 |
| Goals7: | 1 |
| Years8: | 2018 |
| Clubs8: | → Al-Taawoun (loan) |
| Caps8: | 10 |
| Goals8: | 2 |
| Years9: | 2019 |
| Clubs9: | → Ludogorets Razgrad (loan) |
| Caps9: | 13 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Years10: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs10: | → FCSB (loan) |
| Caps10: | 17 |
| Goals10: | 2 |
| Years11: | 2020–2021 |
| Clubs11: | Voluntari |
| Caps11: | 8 |
| Goals11: | 2 |
| Years12: | 2021 |
| Clubs12: | Academica Clinceni |
| Caps12: | 19 |
| Goals12: | 2 |
| Clubs13: | CSA Steaua București |
| Caps13: | 47 |
| Goals13: | 11 |
| Years13: | 2021–2023 |
| Clubs14: | Concordia Chiajna |
| Caps14: | 5 |
| Goals14: | 0 |
| Years14: | 2023–2024 |
| Clubs15: | CSA Steaua București |
| Caps15: | 8 |
| Goals15: | 0 |
| Years15: | 2024– |
| Nationalyears1: | 2012–2017 |
| Nationalteam1: | Romania |
| Nationalcaps1: | 24 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 4 |
| Club-Update: | 7 July 2024 |
Adrian Popa (born 24 July 1988) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga II club CSA Steaua București.
Popa was one of the most proficient players of the Politehnica Timișoara reserve team, and was loaned to CS Buftea and Gloria Buzău.
In July 2009, Popa signed a contract with Universitatea Cluj. Although he showed impressive skills and helped the team get promoted to the first division, he left the club after one year.
In 2010, Popa joined Concordia Chiajna. He contributed to the club's promotion to the first division and was kept for the following season.
On 15 August 2012, Popa signed a five-year contract with FCSB for an undisclosed transfer fee.[1] [2] One week later, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 away win over FK Ekranas in the Europa League play-off round's first leg.[3]
He played over 200 games during his spell with the capital-based club.
On 27 January 2017, it was announced that Popa agreed to transfer to English team Reading after reaching the final six months of his contract with FCSB.[4] The transfer was made official three days later, with Popa signing with Reading until the summer of 2020.[5]
His first goal came on 17 March 2017, scoring Reading's second in injury time in a 2–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at the Hillsborough Stadium.[6]
On 29 January 2018, Reading confirmed that Popa had joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Taawon on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season.[7] [8]
On 20 December 2018, Reading announced that Popa had moved to Ludogorets Razgrad on loan for the rest of the 2018–19 season.[9]
On 16 October 2020, Popa signed a one-year contract with FC Voluntari.[10]
On 22 September 2021, Popa signed a two-year contract with his childhood team, Steaua București. [11]
Popa made his debut for the Romania senior team in October 2012, in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Netherlands.[12]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| CS Buftea (loan) | 2008–09 | Liga II | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 11 | 2 | ||||
| Gloria Buzău (loan) | 2008–09 | Liga I | 12 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 12 | 1 | |||||
| Universitatea Cluj | 2009–10 | Liga II | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 24 | 3 | ||||
| Concordia Chiajna | 2011–12 | Liga II | 27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 27 | 4 | ||||
| 2011–12 | Liga I | 29 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 30 | 4 | |||||
| 2012–13 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 3 | |||||||
| Total | 60 | 10 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 61 | 11 | |||
| Steaua București | 2012–13 | Liga I | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 11 | 1 | – | 43 | 2 | |||
| 2013–14 | 28 | 7 | 5 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 7 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 28 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 8 | |||
| 2015–16 | 32 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 5 | |||
| 2016–17 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | – | 31 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 137 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 230 | 28 | |||
| Reading | 2016–17 | Championship | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 1 | |||
| 2017–18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||||
| 2018–19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 1 | |||||
| Al-Taawoun (loan) | 2017–18 | Saudi Professional League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Ludogorets Razgrad (loan) | 2018–19 | First League | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| FCSB (loan) | Liga I | 17 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 20 | 3 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Liga I | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 2 | |||||
| Academica Clinceni | 2020–21 | Liga I | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 19 | 2 | ||||
| CSA Steaua București | 2021–22 | Liga II | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 19 | 5 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 29 | 7 | ||||||
| Total | 47 | 11 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 49 | 12 | ||||||
| Concordia Chiajna | 2023–24 | Liga II | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||||
| CSA Steaua București | 2023–24 | Liga II | 7 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 7 | 0 | |||||
| Career total | 386 | 52 | 22 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 49 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 465 | 60 | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 2012 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | 7 | 1 | ||
| 2016 | 11 | 3 | ||
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 24 | 4 | ||
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Popa goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 February 2015 | Mardan Sports Complex, Aksu, Turkey | 7 | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly | ||
| 2 | 3 June 2016 | Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania | 14 | 1–0 | 5–1 | Friendly | ||
| 3 | 4 September 2016 | Cluj Arena, Cluj-Napoca, Romania | 17 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 4 | 8 October 2016 | Vazgen Sargsyan, Yerevan, Armenia | 18 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
FCSB
Ludogorets Razgrad