Romanian international George Puscas signed for the Royals as one of our new recruits ahead of the 2019-20 season.

Puscas’ professional career began in his native Romania with Liberty Oradea, before he joined Italian giants Inter Milan and made his Serie A debut aged 18.

A matter of weeks later, he came off the bench against Celtic in a Europa League win and his full debut for Inter came in a 1-1 home draw against Parma four days before his 19th birthday.

Regular football came in Serie B the following season while on loan at Bari, scoring five goals in 18 appearances during his season-long stay at Stadio San Nicola.

George then spent the next season and a half on loan at Benevento, before a short loan stint at Novara preceded a permanent move to Palermo in August 2018. He scored ten goals in Sicily before returning to the San Siro in the summer.

On the international scene, he won the first of his Romania caps in May 2018 in a 3-2 win against Chile and scored his first international goal in a 3-0 Nations League win over Lithuania.

He became a Reading player in the summer of 2019 and made his debut for the Royals against Hull that August. The forward notched a spectacular brace on his maiden appearance in RG2 five days later, helping Reading to a 3-0 win over Cardiff.

He netted 14 goals in all competitions during his first season in blue and white hoops – but was limited to just four in 2020-21, a season during which he suffered a long-term injury.

Puscas featured 27 times over the first half of the following campaign before a loan spell in Italy saw him strike eight times for Pisa in Serie B.

On the international stage he featured in three Nations League matches in June 2022 as he brought his Romania caps tally up to 30.

The forward made a return to Italy at the start of the 2022-23 season, penning a season-long loan contract with Serie B side Genoa.