George Pușcaș

George Alexandru Pușcaș (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈd͡ʒe̯ord͡ʒe alekˈsandru ˈpuʃkaʃ]; born 8 April 1996) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Reading and the Romania national team.

For the American sports writer, see George Puscas (sports writer).

George Pușcaș
Pușcaș with Romania in 2019
Personal information
Full name George Alexandru Pușcaș[1]
Date of birth (1996-04-08) 8 April 1996
Place of birth Marghita, Romania
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Reading
Number 47
Youth career
2008–2012 Liberty Oradea
2013–2014 Inter Milan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Liberty Oradea 0 (0)
2012–2013 → Bihor Oradea (loan) 13 (2)
2013–2018 Inter Milan 4 (0)
2015–2016 → Bari (loan) 17 (5)
2016–2018 → Benevento (loan) 32 (8)
2018 → Novara (loan) 19 (9)
2018–2019 Palermo 33 (9)
2019– Reading 29 (9)
National team‡
2011–2012 Romania U17 5 (0)
2014–2015 Romania U19 9 (5)
2014–2019 Romania U21 25 (18)
2018– Romania 14 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 March 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2019

Club career

Internazionale

Pușcaș made his Internazionale debut on 1 February 2015 by appearing in the last minutes of a 3–1 loss to Sassuolo in the 2014–15 Serie A matchday 21.[2] On 26 February 2015, he made his UEFA Europa League debut as a substitute replacing Rodrigo Palacio in the 89th minute of a 1–0 home win over Celtic.[3] On 4 April 2014, Pușcaș played his first match as a starter for Internazionale, a 1–1 home draw against Parma, he was replaced by Mateo Kovačić in the 46th minute.[4]

Loan to Bari

On 4 August 2015, Pușcaș, along with his teammate Gaston Camara, were sent on loan at Serie B for the 2015–16 season.[5] On 9 August he made his debut for Bari as a substitute replacing Anthony Partipilo in the 60th minute of a 2–1 home defeat against Foggia in the second round of Coppa Italia.[6] He played his first Serie B match later on 22 September 2015 in the 4–1 away loss to Crotone, starting and playing for 57 minutes.[7] On 22 February he played his first entire match for Bari, a 1–0 away defeat against Virtus Lanciano.[8] On 1 March, Pușcaș scored twice in a 4–0 home win over Ternana.[9] Pușcaș ended his loan to Bari with 18 appearances, 5 goals and 1 assist.

Loan to Benevento

On 15 July, Pușcaș was loaned to Serie B side Benevento on a 2-years loan deal. On 7 August he made his debut in a match loss 4–2 at penalties after a 0–0 home draw against Salernitana in the second round of Coppa Italia; he was replaced by Fabio Mazzeo in the 68th minute.[10] On 27 August he made his Serie B debut for Benevento as a substitute replacing Fabio Ceravolo in the 71st minute and scoring his first goal 8 minutes later in a 2–0 home win over SPAL.[11] On 20 September he played his first entire match for Benevento, a 1–1 home draw against Pro Vercelli.[12] On 19 November, Pușcaș scored his second goal, again as a substitute, in the 89th minute of a 4–0 home win over Brescia.[13] In June 2017 he scored the goal that sealed Benevento's promotion to Serie A.[14]

Pușcaș started his second season with Benevento by playing 80 minutes in a 4–0 home defeat against Perugia in the third round of Coppa Italia.[15] On 20 August, Pușcaș made his Serie A debut for Benevento in a 2–1 away defeat against Sampdoria.[16] On 3 December 2017, Pușcaș scored his first Serie A goal in the 2–2 home draw versus Milan that gave Benevento their first ever point in the top flight.[17] In January 2018 he was recalled by Inter, thus leaving Benevento with a total of 34 appearances and 8 goals.[18]

Loan to Novara

On 29 January 2018, Pușcaș was again sent on loan, this time returning at Serie B to Novara.[18][19] He debuted for his new team five days later in the 1–2 home defeat to Ascoli, netting his team's only goal in the first half.[20] The following week, in his second appearance, Pușcaș scored his first career hat-trick to give his side the 3–1 win at Cittadella.[21]

Palermo

On 8 August 2018, Pușcaș joined Palermo and subsequently signed a four-year contract.[22][23] The deal was reported to be worth €3.25 million plus bonuses.[24][25] On 3 November 2018, he registered his first league goal for the Sicilian team by scoring in the 90th minute of a 2–1 victory over Cosenza.[26] At the end of the season, with Palermo relegated to Serie D, Internazionale exercised their buy back option for the Romanian forward.[27]

Reading

On 7 August 2019, Pușcaș signed for Reading on a five-year contract from Inter Milan for €8 million euros plus €2 million in bonuses, becoming Reading's most expensive signing in history.[28][29] He scored his first goal for Reading in an EFL Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers on 13 August 2019, and also went on to score one of the penalties as Reading won the shoot-out.[30] On 18 August 2019 he scored two goals on his home league debut for the Royals against Cardiff City.[31]. Pușcaș scored his first EFL Championship hat-trick against Wigan Athletic on 30 November 2019 in a 3-1 victory, with the goals all coming in the space of 4 minutes 54 seconds [32].

International career

Pușcaș scored seven times for Romania under-21 in the 2019 UEFA European Championship qualifying competition, as his side won its group and progressed to the final tournament in Italy. On 18 June 2019, he obtained the penalty from which he scored the opener in a 4–1 victory over Croatia at the San Marino Stadium.[33] He netted again in the next group game against England, surpassing Ionuț Luțu as the highest scorer of the Tricolorii mici.[34] Pușcaș then gave Romania a half-time lead after scoring a double against Germany in the semi-finals, but Romania eventually lost the match 2–4.[35]

He earned his first full cap for the nation on 23 May 2018, entering in the 74th minute of a 3–2 win against Chile.[36] On 17 November that year, he scored his first goal in a UEFA Nations League 3–0 defeat of Lithuania.[37]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 8 March 2020[38][39]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bihor Oradea
2012–13 Liga II 13200——132
Internazionale 2014–15 Serie A 40201[lower-alpha 1]0—70
Bari (loan) 2015–16 Serie B 17511——186
Benevento (loan) 2016–17 Serie B 21710——227
2017–18 Serie A 11110——121
Total 32820——348
Novara (loan) 2017–18 Serie B 199———199
Palermo 2018–19 Serie B 33900——339
Reading 2019–20 Championship 29921—213311
Career total 1474260102115744
  1. All appearance(s) in Europa League

International
As of 18 November 2019[40]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania
201841
2019105
Total146

International goals
12 October 2019 .Romania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Pușcaș goal.[40]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 November 2018Ilie Oană Stadium, Ploiești, Romania3 Lithuania1–03–02018–19 UEFA Nations League C
2 26 March 2019Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania6 Faroe Islands4–14–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
3 10 June 2019National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta8 Malta
1–0
4–0
4
2–0
5 8 September 2019Ilie Oană Stadium, Ploiești, Romania101–01–0
6 12 October 2019Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands11 Faroe Islands1–03–0

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Reading" (PDF). English Football League. p. 59. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  2. "Sassuolo 3–1 Inter Milan". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  3. "Internazionale vs. Celtic – 26 February 2015 – Soccerway". Soccerway. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  4. "Internazionale vs. Parma 1 – 1". Soccerway. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  5. "CAMARA AND PUSCAS TO BARI". inter.it. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  6. "Bari 1908 vs. Foggia 1 – 2". Soccerway. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. "Crotone vs. Bari 4 – 1". Soccerway. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  8. "Virtus Lanciano vs. Bari 1908 1 – 0". Soccerway. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  9. "Bari 1908 vs. Ternana 4 – 0". Soccerway. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  10. "Benevento vs. Salernitana 0 – 0". Soccerway. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  11. "Benevento vs. SPAL 2 – 0". Soccerway. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  12. "Benevento vs. Pro Vercelli 1 – 1". Soccerway. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  13. "Benevento vs. Brescia 4 – 0". Soccerway. 19 November 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  14. "BENEVENTO CLINCH SERIE A PROMOTION FOR FIRST TIME". goal.com. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  15. "Benevento vs. Perugia 0 – 4". Soccerway. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  16. "Sampdoria vs. Benevento 2 – 1". Soccerway. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  17. "Benevento 2–2 AC Milan". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  18. "PUSCAS MOVES TO NOVARA". inter.it. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  19. "Inter, Puscas torna dal Benevento e va subito al Novara" [Inter, Puscas returns from Benevento and goes straight to Novara] (in Italian). Gazzetta.it. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  20. "Novara vs. Ascoli 1 – 2". Soccerway. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  21. "Serie B, Cittadella-Novara 1–3. Super Puscas, è tripletta" [Serie B, Cittadella-Novara 1–3. Super Puscas, the treble] (in Italian). Gazzetta.it. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  22. "UFFICIALE: Palermo, colpo in attacco: arriva Puscas". Tutto Mercato Web (in Italian). TC&C S.r.l. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  23. "Palermo sign George Puscas" (Press release). U.S. Città di Palermo. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  24. "Palermo l-a transferat pe George Pușcaș". stiripesurse.ro (in Romanian). 8 August 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  25. "Inter îl vinde pe George Puscaș pe 3 milioane de euro. Unde va juca atacantul român". Digi Sport (in Romanian). RCS-RDS S.A. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  26. "Puscas regala la vittoria al Palermo al 90'" (in Italian). Eurosport. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  27. "George Puscas: Reading sign Inter Milan striker on five-year deal". www.bbc.com. BBC. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  28. "George Pușcaș signs permanently from Inter Milan". readingfc.co.uk/. Reading F.C. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  29. "George Pușcaș a semnat cu Reading! E cel mai scump transfer din istoria formației engleze + Ce salariu va avea românul". Gazeta Sporturilor. 7 August 2019.
  30. "Rafael heroics earn Royals shootout win". readingfc.co.uk. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  31. "George Puscas scores two goals as Reading crush Cardiff City 3-0 to claim their first Championship win of the season". bbc.com. 18 August 2019.
  32. https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/november/report--wigan-athletic-vs-reading/
  33. "Romania 4–1 Croatia". UEFA.com. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  34. "VIDEO George Pușcaș l-a depășit pe Ionuț Luțu în topul marcatorilor naționalei de tineret și „mai are «gloanțe»"!" [George Pușcaș surpassed Ionuț Luțu as the top scorer of the under-21 national team and he "still has bullets"!]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 24 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  35. "Germany 4–2 Romania". UEFA.com. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  36. "România – Chile 3–2. Rezerva Budescu a adus victoria tricolorilor. Sud-americanii au jucat o oră în 10" [Romania – Chile 3–2. Substitute Budescu brought victory for "the Tricolours". The South Americans played for an hour in ten men] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  37. "Pușcaș a marcat primul gol pentru națională, după 7 minute de la debutul într-un meci oficial" [Pușcaș scored his first goal for the national team, seve minutes into his official debut] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  38. George Pușcaș at Soccerway
  39. "George Pușcaș". inter.it. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  40. "George Pușcaș". European Football. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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