 In early February 2010, he was suspended in Portugal – as his teammate Hulk – following incidents during a 0–1 league defeat at S.L.Benfica, so he returned to his country for a five-month loan and moved to former side Rapid; he did not manage to be played regularly at Porto during that time but, following his return for 2010–11, became a very important first-team unit as they won three major titles, appearing in 40 official games in the process.On 17 February 2014, Săpunaru was condemned to pay a €90,000 fine for his participation in the assault of two stewards at the Estádio da Luz on 20 December 2009.