Cătălin Vulturar

Cătălin Vulturar
Personal information
Full name Cătălin Alin Vulturar[1]
Date of birth (2004-03-09) 9 March 2004
Place of birth Arad, Romania[1]
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Rapid București
Number 15
Youth career
–2019 UTA Arad
2020–2024 Lecce
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 UTA Arad 3 (0)
2024– Rapid București 36 (2)
2024 → UTA Arad (loan) 9 (0)
International career‡
2016 Romania U16 4 (0)
2021 Romania U18 2 (0)
2022–2023 Romania U19 6 (0)
2024–2025 Romania U20 5 (1)
2023– Romania U21 17 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 August 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 27 March 2026

Cătălin Alin Vulturar (born 9 March 2004) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Rapid București.

Club career

Born in Arad, Romania, Vulturar started his career with UTA Arad, making his first team debut at the age of fourteen.[2] After rejecting an offer from FCSB, and trialling with Barcelona and Liverpool, he signed for Italian side Lecce in 2020.[3] In completing the transfer, he became the most expensive sale in UTA Arad history.[4][5]

In October 2021, he was named by English newspaper The Guardian as one of the best players born in 2004 worldwide.[6] He has since been named captain of Lecce's under-19 side.[7] He won the Campionato Primavera with them in 2023.

On 1 February 2024, Lecce announced Vulturar's transfer to Rapid București.[8] Lecce reserved 40% of the sell-on fee and an option to match a purchase offer. Three weeks later, in order to gain playing minutes and adapt to Romanian football, he was sent on loan to UTA Arad until the summer, due to a huge number of midfielders in the team squad.[9]

International career

Vulturar has represented Romania at under-18 and under-19 level.[1]

Career statistics

As of 21 August 2026[10]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cupa României Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
UTA Arad 2018–19 Liga II 1000—0010
2019–20 Liga II 2010——30
Total 3010—0040
Rapid București 2024–25 Liga I 7020——90
2025–26 Liga I 23220——252
2026–27 Liga I 6000——60
Total 36240——402
UTA Arad (loan) 2023–24 Liga I 90———90
Career total 48250—00532

Honours

UTA Arad

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cătălin Vulturar at WorldFootball.net
  2. ↑ "Viitor pentru Arad! Vulturar a debutat în Liga a 2-a la doar 14 ani și nouă luni chiar pe terenul unde a debutat Hagi" [Future for Arad! Vulturar debuted in the 2nd League at only 14 years and nine months on the very ground where Hagi debuted]. specialarad.ro (in Romanian). 9 December 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Cine e singurul fotbalist român inclus de The Guardian în TOP 60 cei mai talentați tineri din lume » În 2018 a refuzat să semneze cu FCSB!" [Who is the only Romanian footballer included by The Guardian in the TOP 60 most talented young people in the world » In 2018 he refused to sign with FCSB!]. gsp.ro (in Romanian). 8 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  4. ↑ Sfara, Leo (5 October 2020). "Cătălin Vulturar lasă UTA pentru Lecce!" [Cătălin Vulturar leaves UTA for Lecce!]. aradon.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Vulturar, at the parting time with UTA and Lecce: "I wanted to make my debut in League 1, but I couldn't miss the opportunity to get into Italian football, one of my favorites"". tekdeeps.com. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  6. ↑ "Next Generation 2021: 60 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  7. ↑ Sperti, Andrea (2 June 2022). "Talento e leadership: il futuro del Lecce si chiama Catalin Vulturar" [Talent and leadership: the future of Lecce is called Catalin Vulturar]. pianetalecce.it (in Italian). Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "CESSIONE VULTURAR" [VULTURAR ASSIGNMENT] (in Italian). US Lecce. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "Oficial: Cătălin Vulturar, noul jucător de la UTA! Fotbalistul nu a apucat să debuteze pentru Rapid" [Oficial: Cătălin Vulturar, the new player from UTA! The footballer did not get to make his debut for Rapid]. digisport.ro (in Romanian). 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  10. ↑ Cătălin Vulturar at Soccerway
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.