According to a Romanian newspaper, a local second division soccer club has sold one of its players for a lump of meat.

The transaction was made when UT Arad sold defender Marius Cioara to fourth division side Regal Horia for almost thirty pounds of meat.

But the deal quickly went off for Regal - the defender decided to end his soccer career before making the switch.

He is instead heading out to Spain to find a job in agriculture or construction.

A Regal official was quoted as saying, "We are upset because we lost twice - firstly because we lost a good player and secondly because we lost our team's food for a whole week."

It is not the first time Romanian football clubs have beefed up their squads with payment in kind.

In 1998, Jiul Petrosani is reported to have swapped midfielder Loan Radu to Vilcea for two tons of meat.