Cătălin Cîrjan
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Cătălin Ionuț Cîrjan | ||
Date of birth | 1 December 2002 | ||
Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Dinamo București | ||
Number | 10 | ||
Youth career | |||
–2019 | Viitorul Domnești | ||
2019–2023 | Arsenal | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2022–2024 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
2023–2024 | → Rapid București (loan) | 17 | (0) |
2024– | Dinamo București | 7 | (2) |
International career‡ | |||
2018 | Romania U16 | 1 | (0) |
2023– | Romania U21 | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 August 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 September 2023 |
Cătălin Ionuț Cîrjan (Romanian pronunciation: [kətəˈlin joˈnut͡s kɨrˈʒan]; born 1 December 2002) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Dinamo București.
Club career
[edit]Early career / Arsenal
[edit]During his junior years, Cîrjan was part of the youth setup of lower league team Viitorul Domnești,[1][2][3][4] before moving to Premier League club Arsenal in July 2019.[5][6][7]
Serious knee injuries during his time in London sidelined his development for over a year. On 24 May 2022 however, it was announced that Cîrjan had agreed to a new contract with Arsenal.[8] After his appearance in a friendly with Boreham Wood, Cîrjan experienced a 480-day gap before returning to action in an under-21 match in August 2022. By the following month, he resumed training with the first-team squad.[9]
On 23 June 2023, after several weeks of rumours,[10] Cîrjan returned to Romania by signing for Liga I club Rapid București on a one-year loan.[11] He made his debut as a senior in a goalless league draw with Sepsi OSK on 14 July. During his spell, Cîrjan started in only seven out of 17 Liga I appearances and did not score any goals.
In the summer of 2024, Cîrjan left Arsenal upon the expiration of his contract.[12]
Dinamo București
[edit]On 13 June 2024, Cîrjan agreed to a three-year contract with Rapid București's cross-town rivals Dinamo București,[13] being assigned the number 10 jersey. He started and scored on debut on 14 July, in a 2–3 away Liga I loss to CFR Cluj.[14] He scored again one week later, in a 4–1 home win over Petrolul Ploiești.[15]
As a result of his efficient start to the season, Cîrjan was named Romania Player of the Month for July 2024 by the Gazeta Sporturilor website.[16]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 28 August 2024[17]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Rapid București (loan) | 2023–24 | Liga I | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||
Dinamo București | 2024–25 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 6 | 2 | |||
Career total | 24 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 27 | 3 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Cătălin Cîrjan, cel mai promițător fotbalist român. Englezii pariază că va ajunge un star. "Mă antrenez cu jucători pe care îi alegeam pe PlayStation"". liga2.prosport.ro.
- ^ "Catalin Cirjan, noua senzatie a lui Arsenal! Povestea pustiului care a plecat din Liga 3, direct la clubul de pe Emirates". sport.ro.
- ^ "Românul care la 10 ani juca în Liga a 4-a i-a cucerit pe fanii lui Arsenal. Cum l-au poreclit". eurosport.ro. Archived from the original on 2023-03-08. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Arsenal may have their own Anthony Elanga in the first-team after impressing Arteta". Archived from the original on 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Catalin Cirjan remains very highly-rated at Arsenal". tbrfootball.com.
- ^ "Arsenal make major decision on wonderkid after impressive debut season". football.london.
- ^ "Catalin Carjan reveals how Arsenal convinced him to complete transfer". metro.co.uk.
- ^ "Catalin Cirjan signs new contract". Arsenal.com.
- ^ "Arsenal's dressing room helped Catalin Cirjan battle back – he's now pushing for first team". The Athletic.
- ^ "EXCLUSIV Lovituri URIAȘE pregătite de Rapid: Șucu vrea titlul cu Balotelli, marea speranță a lui Arsenal și un ex-jucător de la Barça! Condiția pusă de SuperMario" [EXCLUSIVE HUGE hits prepared by Rapid: Șucu wants the title with Balotelli, Arsenal's great hope and an ex-Barça player! The condition set by SuperMario]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 12 May 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ "OFICIAL - Rapid, transfer pentru titlu în SuperLiga" [OFFICIAL - Rapid, transfer for winning the SuperLiga title] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 23 June 2023.
- ^ "22 players to depart Arsenal at end of contacts". Arsenal FC. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ Turcu, Luminița (13 June 2024). "FC Dinamo anunţă transferul jucătorului Cătălin Cîrjan" [FC Dinamo announces the transfer of player Cătălin Cîrjan] (in Romanian). News.ro.
- ^ "VIDEO Cătălin Cîrjan a reușit în 14 minute la Dinamo ce n-a putut tot sezonul trecut la Rapid" [VIDEO Cătălin Cîrjan managed in 14 minutes at Dinamo what he couldn't do the entire last season at Rapid] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Dinamo București vs. Petrolul 52 - 21 July 2024". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ ""Ne batem pentru play-off!". Cătălin Cîrjan, jucătorul lunii iulie, are planuri mari la Dinamo" ["We fight for the play-offs!". Cătălin Cîrjan, the July Player of the Month, has big plans at Dinamo]. Gazeta Sporturilor. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ Cătălin Cîrjan at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
External links
[edit]- Cătălin Cîrjan – Romanian league stats at LPF (in Romanian)
- 2002 births
- Living people
- Romanian men's footballers
- Footballers from Bucharest
- Men's association football midfielders
- Arsenal F.C. players
- Liga I players
- FC Rapid București players
- FC Dinamo București players
- Romania men's youth international footballers
- Romania men's under-21 international footballers
- Romanian expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in England
- Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England