Cătălin Cîrjan

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.

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) 8 (0)
International career‡
2018 Romania U16 1 (0)
2023– Romania U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 September 2023

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][8][9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

Loan to Rapid București

On 23 June 2023, after several weeks of speculations,[12] Cîrjan returned to Romania by signing for Liga I club Rapid București on a one-year loan.[13] 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.
  4. "Arsenal may have their own Anthony Elanga in the first-team after impressing Arteta".
  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. "Mikel Arteta promotes 18-year-old Catalin Cirjan to first-team training permanently as attacking midfielder 'confidently' waits for Premier League debut with Arsenal languishing in 15th".
  8. "Catalin Carjan reveals how Arsenal convinced him to complete transfer". metro.co.uk.
  9. "Best young footballers of 2020: Japanese Messi to Mason Greenwood, meet best young players in the world".
  10. "Catalin Cirjan signs new contract". Arsenal.com.
  11. "Arsenal's dressing room helped Catalin Cirjan battle back – he's now pushing for first team". The Athletic.
  12. "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.
  13. "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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