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 |
Rapid București (on loan from Arsenal) | ||
| Number | 80 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2019 | Viitorul Domnești | ||
| 2019–2023 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022– | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2023– | → Rapid București (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2018 | Romania U16 | 1 | (0) |
| 2023– | Romania U21 | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 January 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 September 2023 | |||
Cătălin Ionuț Cîrjan (born 1 December 2002) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Rapid București, on loan from Premier League club Arsenal.
Club career
Early career / Arsenal
During his junior years, Cîrjan was part of the youth setup of Romanian lower league team Viitorul Domnești,[1][2][3][4] and joined the academy of Premier League club Arsenal in July 2019.[5][6][7]
His development in London was hampered by serious knee injuries that put him out of action for over a year. In May 2022, it was announced that Cîrjan signed a new contract with Arsenal.[8]
There was a 480-day gap between his appearance in a friendly with Boreham Wood and his return in an under-21 match in August 2022. By the next month, Cîrjan was already training with the first-team squad.[9]
Loan to Rapid București
On 23 June 2023, after several weeks of speculations,[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.
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 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.
External links
- Cătălin Cîrjan at Soccerway