UPDATE (FRIDAY, 10:30 AM ET): Fanatik reported on Friday that the deal is done between NYCFC and Universitatea Craiova, with Mitrita set to undergo a physical and move across the Atlantic in the coming days, via a transfer fee of "close to 8 million Euros." According to the report, it makes him the third-most-expensive outgoing transfer in the history of Romania's top flight.

TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Report

Romanian outlet Fanatik claims that New York City FC are set to splash out a transfer fee of “at least €8 million” ($9.1 million) to sign Romania international Alex Mitrita from Universitatea Craiova on a four-year deal worth around around €1 million ($1.1 million) in wages per season.

If accurate, those numbers would likely qualify Mitrita, 23, as a Designated Player. An attacking player capable of filling a central playmaking role or working as a winger, Mitrita carries experience of Italy’s top divisions after two seasons with Pescara, whom he helped earn promotion to Serie A in 2015/16.

He’s scored regularly for Craiova since returning home to Romania in 2017 to join the club, who finished in third place in Liga I last season and hold the same position in the current league standings while Mitrita sits jointly atop the league scoring charts. Internationally, Mitrita has earned half a dozen caps to date.

NYCFC are in need of a top-choice striker in the wake of David Villa’s departure this winter after four years in the Bronx.