The Romanian view on Florin Andone

Aside from some impressive YouTube videos, not many Brighton and Hove Albion fans know much about Romanian striker Florin Andone, who the Albion had been trying to sign from Deportivo La Coruna for over a year before his £5.25m transfer last week.

In order to find out more about Andone, we spoke to Romanian football journalist Alexandru Avram, who shared his thoughts on Brighton’s newest recruit.

Florin Andone grew up in Spain. When did you in Romania first become aware of him?
Florin was a complete unknown player for everyone around here until he joined Cordoba (Segunda Division) in 2014. After his first couple of goals, news started to come from Spain and with the good goal scoring record he had there, in just a few months, Andone went from being totally unknown to an exciting prospect. All this combined with some poor attacking displays from the Romanian national side meant Andone very soon became part of the national squad.

We’ve heard he can play anywhere in attack. What do you think is his best position?
Expect Andone to play only in the center of the attacking line. He has rarely played on the flanks and he is clearly more comfortable to play in the middle.

What attributes and qualities will be bring to Brighton?
First of all, Andone is not the typical Romanian footballer. Brighton fans should expect to see a good professional, a hard-working man and a team-player. That’s maybe why there are rumours that he doesn’t have too many friends in the national team’s dressing room, because he isn’t like most of our players. On the pitch, he is suited to play the “Poacher” role, being very dangerous on the counter-attack. He has very good pace, he is strong and quick in the box. You can forget the old cliche saying that Romanians are the Brazilians of Europe. He’s not a technical gifted player, but he compensates with both mental and physical attributes. Expect to see him commit a lot of fouls when pressing or fighting for the ball.

We’ve signed him for around €6m. How much do you think he is worth?
He’s just had a frustrating season. With Deportivo being relegated, his market value decreased a lot and I think you’ve got him for a fair price. Last summer, Depor were asking for €20 million for Andone but I think that was a bit too much.

Were you surprised to see him move to the Premier League and will he suit English football?
I think the Premier League will suit him better than La Liga. Although other Romanian players have failed to impress in England, I insist with this: Andone doesn’t seem to be a typical Romanian player. He relies more on his fighting spirit than on his technique and his professionalism can’t be contested. I think he will offer a good alternative to Glenn Murray, especially when Chris Hughton decides to play on the counter and you need more pace.

His scoring record for Romania isn’t good with only one goal. Why is that?
Our national team has been playing poorly in general for more than a decade now. His poor scoring record is just a reflection of the team he plays in. Personally, I felt like he was also under a lot of pressure when playing for Romania, considering his status as a La Liga striker compared to the rest of the attackers from our squad who either play at home or in lower divisions around Europe.

What do Romanian fans think of him?
Romanian fans appreciate him, but also have high hopes for him because of his status which can make expectations difficult but his fighting spirit can’t be ignored. Since we’ve got to know him, he has always been playing in Spain which means he is lucky to not be part of our “messy” national football first division.

Do you think he has the potential to play for a better team than Brighton one day?
To be frank, I don’t think he can play for a team who wants more than a mid-table position. He is good, he is a fighter but he lacks the technical qualities required for the next level. I hope I am proved wrong here, but I doubt it.

Finally, are there any other Romanian players that Brighton should be looking at?
As a football fan who watches Premier the League week-in, week-out, I honestly don’t think that there’s any Romanian player ready to play in the Premier League at the moment. We have some exciting talents at under 21 and under 19 level who may be ready in the near future and I can only hope that Brighton’s scouts are keeping an eye on them.

Alexandru Avram is a Romanian football journalist who covers the Premier League for Tackle.ro. You can follow him on Twitter.