Njongo Priso will play in Romania next season after signing a two-year deal with Petrolul Proiesti.
The Cameroonian winger concluded talks with Petrolul Proiesti earlier this week after getting his release from fallen Bulgarian giants CSKA Sofia.
“I got my release from CSKA Sofia,” Priso, currently on a short holiday in Malta, told Times of Malta.
“CSKA had problems to obtain a UEFA licence because of financial difficulties.
“The president was looking to sell the club. He was fed up with the situation and didn’t want to put more money into CSKA Sofia.
“There was a lot of pressure at the club in the last few months.
“Everybody was unsettled, especially the players as we had to wait three, even four months, to receive our wages.”
Since leaving Valletta in the summer of 2010 to sign for AEK Larnaca, then under the guidance of former City coach Ton Caanen, Priso has gone on to further enhance his reputation as a fast, powerful winger.
His performances for AEK Larnaca caught the attention of CSKA Sofia in January 2012.
Priso, 24, enjoyed a promising start to his spell in Bulgaria, turning in a series of vibrant performances as CSKA Sofia challenged for the title only to narrowly lose out to Ludogorets at the end of season 2011/12. According to Priso, CSKA’s failure to win the championship last year dealt a massive setback to the club’s hopes of solving their financial woes.
“My second season with CSKA Sofia was a bit difficult,” Priso said. “They are a very good club but the organisation was bad.
“When I joined the club in the winter of last year, I had some good moments. At the time, we were challenging for the title but after that, things just got worse and worse. I felt that the club never really recovered from the disappointment of missing out on the title the previous season.”
CSKA, the most successful club in Bulgaria, finished third in the domestic league last season but withdrew from the Europa League due to serious financial problems. Their place was taken by Botev Plovdiv.
This week, Stoycho Mladenov returned for a fourth stint as coach of CSKA Sofia, replacing Hristo Stoichkov who resigned on July 8 after only a month in charge.
Priso, who trained under Stoichkov during the pre-season, received offers from a number of clubs but eventually chose Petrolul Proiesti who are coached by Cosmin Contra, a former Romania international.
He revealed that he had been on the verge of signing for Cypriot club Omonia Nicosia, who have Malta forward Andrè Schembri on their books, but the deal fell through at the last minute.
“I was close to signing for Omonia Nicosia but we were unable to reach an agreement over some contractual details,” Priso said.
“I also had offers from a club in Turkey and Astana from Kazakhstan.”
Petrolul’s participation in this season’s Europa League swayed Priso’s decision in their favour.
“In Romania, this club is making fast progress,” Priso said. “They are well-organised and have a good set-up. Last season, they won the cup (Petrolul beat Cluj 1-0 in the final).
“Their ambition persuaded me to join them, also because their squad is very young. Petrolul are playing in the Europa League and that gave me more motivation because my target was to join a club that is taking part in European competitions this season.”
Petrolul are well-placed to set up a clash with Dutch side Vitesse in the third qualifying round of the Europa League as they lead Vikingur, of Faroe Islands, 3-0 after the first leg in Romania.
Although Priso has no plans to return to Maltese football for the foreseeable future, he is keen to rejoin Valletta at a later stage of his career.
“I have regular contact with Victor Sciriha (the Valletta president),” Priso said.
“I have a very good relationship with him. I have a lot of respect for Victor and David (Xuereb), of Tip Top, because they helped me a lot when I played for Valletta.
“I gave them my word that if I return to Malta, I would only play for Valletta.”