Cătălin Cîrjan
Personal information
Full name Cătălin Ionuț Cîrjan
Date of birth (2002-12-01) 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
0000–2019 Viitorul Domnești
2019–2023 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022– Arsenal 0 (0)
2023– → Rapid București (loan) 15 (0)
International career‡
2018 Romania U16 1 (0)
2023– Romania U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 December 2023
‡ 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

  1. ↑ "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.
  2. ↑ "Catalin Cirjan, noua senzatie a lui Arsenal! Povestea pustiului care a plecat din Liga 3, direct la clubul de pe Emirates". sport.ro.
  3. ↑ "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)
  4. ↑ "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)
  5. ↑ "Catalin Cirjan remains very highly-rated at Arsenal". tbrfootball.com.
  6. ↑ "Arsenal make major decision on wonderkid after impressive debut season". football.london.
  7. ↑ "Catalin Carjan reveals how Arsenal convinced him to complete transfer". metro.co.uk.
  8. ↑ "Catalin Cirjan signs new contract". Arsenal.com.
  9. ↑ "Arsenal's dressing room helped Catalin Cirjan battle back – he's now pushing for first team". The Athletic.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ "OFICIAL - Rapid, transfer pentru titlu în SuperLiga" [OFFICIAL - Rapid, transfer for winning the SuperLiga title] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 23 June 2023.
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