While fans will be happy, there will be regret inside FC Cluj when Lacina Traore is sold this month.

The 20 year-old appears to have played his last game for the club after insulting home fans during their final Champions League group clash with AS Roma.

Fed-up with the barracking of Cluj supporters, Traore gave them several 'up yours' gestures when he scored a late equaliser. The 20 year-old later apologised, but the damage was done.

A move to England is now almost certain and his Cluj teammate Roberto de Zerbi, the Italian midfielder, revealed the dressing room expects him to join Fulham.

The Ivorian is a graduate from Jean-Marc Guillou's famous ASEC Mimosas academy, famed for also producing the likes of Arsenal star Emmanuel Eboue, Manchester City pair Kolo and Yaya Toure and former Tottenham midfielder Didier Zokora.

Cluj president Iuliu Muresan, on a scouting mission to Abidjan in 2007, spotted a then 17 year-old Traore playing on the street.

The striker had already made his senior debut for local outfit Stade d'Abidjan and upon seeing this gangly teenager in action, Muresan made it a mission to take the teen back with him to Romania.

"There were some conditions there I could not believe!" recalled Muresan. "Deplorable! You would not find anything in our lower divisions like it.

"However, I noticed this lad Lacina Traore. There was no way you could ignore him given his height. I liked how he controlled the ball and immediately decided to bring him to Romania.

"I was happy he was only 17 years of age and knew this for sure, because Ivory Coast has a very good method of birth registration, unlike other African countries.

"I knew the area I had visited had great football potential. Plus he did not cost us anything, he was not contracted to any club. He was playing football on the street!"

Since then, Murasen has done everything he can to protect Traore.

The club president beams with pride whenever discussing his protege's progress from street footballer to Champions League goalscorer.

And despite criticism from local media, Murasen has done all he can to protect Traore's development.

Indeed, the story goes that Murasen has instructed his board several times over the last two years to pay the fines Traore would be slapped with by former coaches Andrea Mandorlini and Toni.

That's not to say Traore isn't admired by the technical staff. Mandorlini can't stop enthusing about the youngster, who he believes deserves to be playing for "a club like Arsenal or Manchester United".

"He has great qualities, is six feet tall, but is as fast as a gazelle," says the Italian, who left Cluj last year.

"Technically he has great all round ability. He's very young, but at his age it is hard to find players with all these qualities."

He added: "Traore deserves all this media attention. Many top clubs are looking at him. I would love to see him playing in Italy.

"Africans haven't always had great luck in Serie A, but I would like to think Traore can be an exception.

"I know for a fact many clubs are interested - particularly the English."

If he is to move to Craven Cottage, ability-wise, Fulham manager Mark Hughes will be getting a 20 year-old attacking talent as good as anything around the world. But his character has been questioned by Bucharest pundits.

Accusations of being too individualistic have haunted Traore this season, while his on-field discipline has also been questioned.

But Murasen is no mug and if Hughes is having doubts, he only needs to listen to the Cluj supremo about Traore's devotion to his huge family at home in Ivory Coast to be assured of the player's temperament.

"He comes from a large family," says Murasen. "He has 17 brothers and they lived in poverty. They are Muslim, and his father has four wives! He is the 18th child.

"For Lacina, this was a golden opportunity that only Romania could give him. Every month, he sends money home to help his brothers.

"As soon as he arrived here, he knew he had to knuckle down and give everything to football."

From the dusty streets of Abidjan to potentially the pinnacle of the Premier League - Traore's story is a true football fairytale.