At a press conference before Universitatea Craiova's match against Csikszereda, amid rumors of his teammate Steven Nsimba's potential transfer to FCSB, 25-year-old Swedish-Palestinian striker Assad Al-Hamlawi was asked if he would consider an offer from the Bucharest club. Al-Hamlawi responded firmly, telling the journalist not to joke with him. His coach, Filipe Coelho, who was also present, then jokingly asked if the player was leaving, which would mean he would be without a striker for the match on Sunday. The attacker, who has 5 goals in 6 caps for Palestine, then reassured his coach that he would not be leaving. Al-Hamlawi joined the club in July 2025 and has a contract until June 2028. He has recently been linked with several clubs, including FSV Mainz 05 and Rubin Kazan. In the summer of 2026, an offer of €3 million from Pyramids was reportedly rejected. The asking price from Universitatea Craiova has been consistently cited as €5 million. According to Transfermarkt, his current market value is €2.00m.