Niculae delighted by Dinamo return

FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti have paid Scottish Premier League outfit Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC €475,000 to re-sign their former striker Marius Niculae.

Full circle
The 27-year-old, who made two appearances at UEFA EURO 2008™, has signed a four-year deal with the UEFA Cup first round entrants, seven years after he left the club to join Sporting Clube de Portugal. Niculae is revered by the Dinamo supporters, his 13 league goals in 1999/2000 helping the capital club to the domestic double, while he finished as the Liga 1 leading scorer the following campaign with 20 strikes as Dinamo retained the Romanian Cup. Niculae said: "I have big emotions because I missed my dogs," referring to Dinamo's Red Dogs nickname.

Scottish venture
A scorer of 13 goals in 32 appearances for Romania, Niculae won more silverware at Sporting, picking up a league and cup winners' medal but his four-year spell with the Portuguese club was marred by injury and he moved on to R. Standard de Liège in 2006 and FSV Mainz 05 the following season. Niculae revived his career in northern Scotland with Inverness last term, scoring eight goals in 35 league appearances.