Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Cătălin Ionuț Cîrjan | ||
Date of birth | (2002-12-01) 1 December 2002 (age 22) | ||
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 | |||
0000–2019 | Viitorul Domnești | ||
2019–2023 | Arsenal | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2023–2024 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
2023–2024 | → Rapid București (loan) | 17 | (0) |
2024– | Dinamo București | 20 | (4) |
International career | |||
2018 | Romania U16 | 1 | (0) |
2023– | Romania U21 | 3 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 December 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 September 2024 |
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
Early career / Arsenal
During his junior years, Cîrjan was part of the youth setup of lower league team Viitorul Domnești, before moving to Premier League club Arsenal in July 2019.
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. 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.
On 23 June 2023, after several weeks of rumours, Cîrjan returned to Romania by signing for Liga I club Rapid București on a one-year loan. 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.
Dinamo București
On 13 June 2024, Cîrjan agreed to a three-year contract with Rapid București's cross-town rivals Dinamo București, 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. He scored again one week later, in a 4–1 home win over Petrolul Ploiești.
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.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 13 December 2024
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 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 23 | 5 | |||
Career total | 37 | 4 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 42 | 5 |
References
- "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 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
{{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 30 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
{{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
- Cătălin Cîrjan – Romanian league stats at LPF (in Romanian)
FC Dinamo București – current squad | |
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- 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
- 21st-century Romanian sportsmen