Raja Club Athletic advance talks for CFR Cluj defender Marian Huja as defensive rebuild continues

Raja Club Athletic are closing in on the signing of Marian Huja from Romanian side CFR Cluj, with negotiations described as being at an advanced stage.

The two clubs are understood to have reached a preliminary agreement over the financial terms of the transfer, which is expected to be worth about €350,000, according to Moroccan news website Hespress.

The deal is now awaiting the completion of the final administrative steps before Huja can officially join Raja during the current summer transfer window. The defender is also expected to travel to Morocco shortly to complete the procedures linked to the move.

Huja has become increasingly open to leaving CFR Cluj after his relationship with the club’s manager became strained. The 27-year-old is keen to take on a new challenge and experience a change of surroundings ahead of next season.

Raja’s interest in Huja is part of a wider attempt to strengthen their central defensive options. Abdellah Khafifi has left the club after his contract expired, while Badr Benoun could also depart.

Huja is a left-footed centre-back, a quality that would give Raja an additional option when building attacks from the back and playing the ball out of defence. He holds both Portuguese and Romanian nationality.

The defender began his development at the Belenenses academy in Portugal before playing professionally in Denmark, Romania and Poland. Those spells have given him experience of several different European football environments, leading to his current spell with CFR Cluj.

His potential arrival has been driven by Raja’s Portuguese sporting director, Matias Rogerio, who has backed his compatriot as a candidate to improve the club’s defence. The move forms part of Raja’s plans to assemble a more balanced squad before the start of the coming season.

Negotiations between Raja and CFR Cluj are now close to completion. The transfer will be formally announced once the remaining administrative and medical requirements have been fulfilled.

Huja has emerged as one of Raja’s leading defensive targets after the club abandoned plans to sign Nabil Alaioui. That proposed deal fell through when Alaioui failed his medical examination, increasing the likelihood that the Portuguese-Romanian defender will become the latest addition to the club’s back line.