Nicolae Stanciu

Biography

Nicolae "Nicușor" Claudiu Stanciu (born 7 May 1993) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Serie A club Genoa and captains the Romania national team. Stanciu began his career with Unirea Alba Iulia and went on to represent Vaslui and Steaua București in his country, winning six domestic honours and making a name for himself with the latter. He moved abroad to Anderlecht in August 2016, becoming the then-most expensive signing made by a Belgian club and later, after bonuses, the then-biggest sale of the Romanian championship. Stanciu then transferred to Sparta Prague one and a half-year later for another internal record fee. He left the Czech Republic at the start of 2019 to sign for Al-Ahli for €10 million fee, only to return in that summer to the country with former rival club Slavia Prague, where he helped to a league title in his first season. Stanciu made his senior international debut for Romania in March 2016, after having previously represented it at under-19 and under-21 levels. He participated with the nation at the UEFA Euro 2016 .