Maldarasanu bound for Besiktas

Permanent option
The Turkish club have paid €150,000 for Maldarasanu's services and will also have first option to buy him outright in the summer. The 28-year-old, meanwhile, will receive a €100,000 signing-on fee from Besiktas.

Close collaboration
The transfer is another example of co-operation between Besiktas coach Mircea Lucescu - who won the Romanian title as coach of Rapid in 1999 - and his close friend, Rapid's main shareholder George Copos. The deal was completed in a hotel in Antalya, Turkey, where both Besiktas and Rapid had set up winter training camps.

Surprise move
Indeed, Maldarasanu, whose contract with Rapid was this week extended by three years until June 2007, knew little of the move until this morning when Rapid vice-president Razvan Lucescu, son of Mircea Lucescu, gave him a bag of Besiktas kit and told him to get ready to leave on Besiktas's chartered flight for Istanbul.

Big opportunity
However, he was delighted to make the switch, saying: "Of course I am happy, but also nervous, because I know I'll have to show that I'm worth this transfer. At 28 this could be a big moment in my career - maybe a last chance to play in the big leagues and provide for my family's future."

Romanian colleague
Maldarasanu will join Rapid team-mate Daniel Pancu at Besiktas, as the striker is on a one-year loan from the Romanian club, and is the second major player to leave Rapid this winter. Midfield player Constantin Schumacher quit the league leaders to join Chinese first division club Yunnan Hongta.

UEFA Cup experience
The former FC Petrolul Ploiesti player was brought to Rapid by Lucescu in 1998 and has scored 25 goals in 178 top-flight games in Romania as well as making six appearances for the national side. However, since he played for Rapid in this season's UEFA Cup, he will be ineligible for Besiktas's forthcoming fixture against SK Slavia Praha in the same competition. before agreeing the loan