UPDATE: Steaua Bucharest Confirm Reading FC Will Sign Romanian Winger

It's been a relatively quiet transfer window for Reading so far, with Tiago Ilori the only man to sign on the dotted line at the Mad Stad, yet that situation could be about to change. Romanian side Steaua Bucharest say midfielder Adrian Popa will join the Royals over the weekend.

This follows an article from Romanian website DigiSport, who put the fee at around £500,000 for the 28-year old, after the club backed down from their initial demand of around £850k. He'll apparently travel to England tomorrow (Saturday) to finalise the move.

DigiSport also claim that Popa's pay will be in the region of €825,000 per year, equating to a weekly salary of just over £15,000. That figure is expected to double should Reading get to the Premier League.

Since the rumour was originally published by DigiSport, the player seemed to confirm the deal on his Facebook page, writing:

"But today came the day I announce that I will go. Tomorrow, I'll sign with Reading Football Club."

So what do we know about him?

Well as mentioned he's 28 and has spent his entire domestic career in his native Romania. Popa isn't the tallest bloke in the world, at just 5ft 5 he's the same height as Sammy Igoe. The Romanian seems a player who tends to be deployed out wide, either as a winger or as part of a front three. UEFA's website lists Robbie Brady as a 'similar player' for what that's worth.

He's got a goal return of 34 goals in 210 league games, plus another two in 49 European appearances. Along the way he's managed three Romanian Championships plus another four cup titles.

Popa also represented his country at the 2016 European Championship in France, with an overall total of 23 caps and four goals.

This would seem a typical Stam/Tevreden signing really, and is very reminiscent of the signing of Roy Beerens back in the summer. With Callum Harriott injured, there hasn't been a lot of depth in the wide forward/midfielder department for Reading in recent weeks and Popa would certainly bring some welcome reinforcement to the area.

As to where the money is coming from, well it might be part of the £10.4m loan the club received from a Chinese group linked to the takeover of the club.

As always, here's your standard YouTube highlights package to show you what he can do. Oh and it has some naughty language in the backing track so watch out if you're at work.

Stam has been on record as warning we might not see too much more activity before deadline day but would Popa be the final piece in a play-off jigsaw puzzle?