Cătălin Cîrjan

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 Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Dinamo București
Number 10
Youth career
–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 83 (15)
International career‡
2018 Romania U16 1 (0)
2023–2025 Romania U21 6 (0)
2025– Romania 2 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 August 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 June 2026

Cătălin Ionuț Cîrjan (Romanian pronunciation: [kətəˈlin joˈnuts kɨrˈʒan]; born 1 December 2002) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Dinamo București, which he captains, and the Romania national team.

Club career

Early career / Arsenal

During his junior years, Cîrjan was part of the youth setup of lower league team Viitorul Domnești,[1][2][3] before moving to Premier League club Arsenal in July 2019.[4][5][6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

On 23 June 2023, after several weeks of rumours,[9] Cîrjan returned to Romania by signing for Liga I club Rapid București on a one-year loan.[10] 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.[11]

Dinamo București

On 13 June 2024, Cîrjan agreed to a three-year contract with Rapid București's cross-town rivals Dinamo București,[12] 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.[13] He scored again one week later, in a 4–1 home win over Petrolul Ploiești.[14]

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.[15]

Career statistics

As of match played 22 August 2026[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cupa României Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rapid București (loan) 2023–24 Liga I 17 0 2 0 — — 19 0
Dinamo București 2024–25 Liga I 39 7 3 1 — — 42 8
2025–26 Liga I 38 7 5 1 — 1[a] 0 44 8
2026–27 Liga I 6 1 0 0 — — 6 1
Total 83 15 8 2 — 1 0 92 17
Career total 100 15 10 2 — 1 0 111 17
  1. ↑ Appearances in Liga I European play-offs

International

As of match played 6 June 2026.
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania
202510
202610
Total20

Honours

Individual

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. Retrieved 8 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ↑ "Catalin Cirjan remains very highly-rated at Arsenal". tbrfootball.com.
  5. ↑ "Arsenal make major decision on wonderkid after impressive debut season". football.london.
  6. ↑ "Catalin Carjan reveals how Arsenal convinced him to complete transfer". metro.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "Catalin Cirjan signs new contract". Arsenal.com.
  8. ↑ "Arsenal's dressing room helped Catalin Cirjan battle back – he's now pushing for first team". The Athletic.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ "OFICIAL - Rapid, transfer pentru titlu în SuperLiga" [OFFICIAL - Rapid, transfer for winning the SuperLiga title] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 23 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "22 players to depart Arsenal at end of contacts". Arsenal FC. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ "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.
  14. ↑ "Dinamo București vs. Petrolul 52 - 21 July 2024". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  15. ↑ ""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.
  16. ↑ Cătălin Cîrjan at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "SUPERLIGA – Echipa sezonului 2025-2026". lpf.ro.
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