Boss, hold on tight because I've got news that'll make you forget how much you spent on diesel this month! It seems Alexandru Chipciu, that guy from U Cluj, a 37-year-old veteran, went head-to-head with Radu Naum on Digi Sport and debated a topic that burns us all: public money in football. You don't know what I went through, bro, when I heard that U Cluj, which last year was runner-up and lost the Cup final to Craiova - twice, no joke - is getting ready for the new season with its hand out to the Local Council.
Listen up, because this is ice cold: Radu Naum, the smart guy from TV, threw it right at him: "Hey, Chipciu, you guys are privileged, because the Cluj Local Council voted you three million euros from the state! What if a private team, like FCSB, took public money and made a profit?" Chipciu, though, didn't back down: he explained that U Cluj is a non-profit association, so that money doesn't leave the club, nobody takes it home. "That's what people need to understand," he said, with nerve, bro, like he was talking to us, the ones on the terrace.
Who actually pays? Guess! Us, the taxpayers, bro, as usual. But wait, it's not that simple. Chipciu also said that private owners, like Gigi Becali or Adrian Rotaru, actually want public teams to be stronger, because that increases competition and boosts squad value. Personally, I can't believe it: Becali wants competition? He'd rather say he wants to sell his players for more, but that's another story.
And then they got to Jovo Lukic, the team's top scorer. Chipciu admitted that at first he didn't believe in him: "When he came in with us, he seemed like he had no confidence. After training, I saw what an 'animal' he is... He'd hit you, score a ton of goals." Now his value has jumped from 900,000 euros to 2.2 million, according to Transfermarkt. That's almost tripled, bro! If I had that kind of performance at work, maybe I'd pay off my BMW installments.
So, boss, what do we conclude? U Cluj brags that it doesn't make a profit, but public money still goes into football. We pay, they play. Until then, I'm going to tell Brian that if he wants to become a footballer, he'd better become an accountant at a non-profit club - at least there, nobody takes the money!
