Hunor Batzula

Sepsi's academy has produced its share of squad players over the years, but Hunor Batzula is one of the clearer cases: a midfielder who came through the club's own youth system and was handed a first-team squad number, 23, while still a teenager. His progress has been described locally as the club's own product, a phrase that carries some weight at a side that leans heavily on homegrown talent from the Covasna region.

The clearest marker of his breakthrough came in a Liga I fixture against Universitatea Craiova, which Sepsi won 2-1. Batzula scored in the 50th minute, his first senior goal for the club and a result that stood out given the opposition. For a young midfielder still finding his footing in the top flight, a winning goal against an established Liga I side is the kind of moment that tends to get remembered.

Off the pitch, his rise has been tracked closely enough that his market value has already been assessed publicly, put at around €125,000 at 18 years old — a modest figure by senior standards, but a notable one for a player only recently promoted from the academy ranks. Whether he can build on the Craiova goal and turn occasional appearances into a regular first-team role is the question Sepsi's coaching staff will be weighing as the season develops.