The tie with FC Argeș in Mioveni (2-2) in the penultimate round was enough for Costel Gâlcă's team to miss out on European cups, which was the main goal of the team for this season.

Rapid's Winter Thriller: "Transfer of the Year"!

This winter, the team from Grădina brought in Olimpiu Moruțan (27 years old), a free agent from Aris Thessaloniki. The player signed a contract with Rapid valid until June 2027, with the possibility of extending it for another season.

The move of Moruțan to Rapid was praised by former Giulești captain Cristi Săpunaru, at Digi Sport: "I've said it, I'll repeat it, and I'll repeat it tens of thousands of times. I really like him as a player. He's a good player. I don't know if he integrated well at Rapid. I don't think he was integrated at the level of his value."

Andrei Vochin, advisor to Răzvan Burleanu at the Romanian Football Federation, believes the main issue with Moruțan was his injury, which kept him sidelined for a long time.

"There's an issue with Moruțan. After his injury, he didn't have a full training period. This means from 2.2024 to 2026. When you bring him, you take the risk that he shows up like he did or you can wait 3-4 rounds and he can perform better."

"But I understand it was very hard. He was the transfer of the year at Rapid and to keep him... I remember when transfers were made in winter, usually they left us and I remember Maxim at Stuttgart. They kept him for about four weeks to get to the level of the others.", Vochin stated.

Ilie Dumitrescu believes Moruțan is a successful transfer to Rapid and will significantly help the team when he reaches a high physical level.

"I really believe in Moruțan and think he will help Rapid a lot when he reaches a very good physical level. He's a player who can make a difference and become a leader, but he needs rhythm. For me, it's a successful transfer.", the former Romanian international said.

Moruțan has played one cup match, eight in the regular season (providing two key assists), and nine in the Romanian Superliga playoffs (scoring one goal and providing two assists).