CFR Cluj forced to bolster forward options

CFR 1907 Cluj have responded to the absence of two key forwards by signing Ferdinando Sforzini on loan from Udinese Calcio and Ramon Anselmo in a permanent deal from EC Cruzeiro.

With Yssouf Koné out until the new year with a knee injury and Saša Bjelanović likely to be nursing a damaged ankle until October, CFR coach Andrea Mandorlini has returned to his native Italy to land 25-year-old attacker Sforzini. "I have spoken to Andrea Mandorlini, and all I want to do now is score goals and win," he said. For Sforzini, Cluj are the latest stop in a career that has taken in spells at Hellas-Verona FC, Modena FC, Vicenza FC, Ravenna Calcio, US Grosseto FC, Avellino Calcio and AS Bari.

One of Sforzini's new striking colleagues will be Anselmo Ramon, who will put pen to paper on a five-term contract with CFR. The agreement for the 22-year-old former Kashiwa Reyol forward is part of the club's collaboration with Brazilian side Cruzeiro. Having won a Romanian domestic double in 2009/10, CFR start this season's European adventure in the UEFA Champions League group stage.