Player Spotlight: Rares Ilie vs Strasbourg

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Rares Ilie (right) in action for Nice

Perhaps one of the most under-the-radar signings of the summer window so far has been OGC Nice's acquisition of Rares Ilie from Rapid București. The French club payed a reported fee of €5 million plus bonuses for the 19-year-old Romanian forward. In two seasons at Rapid, Ilie scored 9 goals in 60 appearances and made his Romania under-21s debut. He frequently showed his flair with fancy footwork and skills as București finished mid table last season. 

Against Strasbourg on Sunday, Ilie made his first league start for Nice and played 75 minutes as Nice drew 1-1 with Strasbourg. He had a good game, making a high number of progressive carries (9), setting up 3 chances for his team and taking 2 shots himself. This was the joint-most chances created of his team and also the joint-most shots. Ilie looked comfortable on the ball and was dribbling past players for fun, completing all three of his attempted dribbles, once again the most on his team. After this bright start, it will be interesting to see if he can keep up this good form over the course of the season.