Cristian Manea
Cristian Marian Manea (; born 9 August 1997) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga I club CFR Cluj and the Romania national team.

Manea started out as a senior at Viitorul Constanța in 2014, and moved to Apollon Limassol during that summer. He did not feature in any games for the Cypriots, being loaned out consecutively to Viitorul, Mouscron, CFR Cluj, FCSB and again CFR Cluj. Manea signed a permanent deal with the latter in 2020, and won seven domestic honours during his stints in Cluj-Napoca.

Internationally, Manea became the youngest player to make his debut for Romania after playing in a 1–0 win over Albania in May 2014. In 2019, he represented the under-21 side in the UEFA European Championship.

Club career

Viitorul Constanța
Born in Agigea, Manea spent his junior years in the academy of Viitorul Constanța. He made his professional debut for the club on 21 April 2014, in a 0–3 Liga I home loss to Steaua București.

Apollon Limassol
In the summer of 2014, an investment fund acquired Manea's playing rights and he was registered by Cypriot side Apollon Limassol. The transfer fee was rumoured to be worth €2.5 million.

Previously, Romanian media reported that Manea had been sold to Premier League team Chelsea for roughly £2.3 million, but the rumour proved to be false. In May 2018, the player himself stated that he had believed he would sign for Chelsea and that he had never physically been to Cyprus.

Various loans
Manea spent the 2014–15 campaign on loan at his former club Viitorul Constanța, and scored his first senior goal in a 2–1 away defeat of Petrolul Ploiești on 13 April 2015.

On 28 August 2015, Manea moved to Belgian team Royal Excel Mouscron on a season-long loan, which was extended for another year. He amassed 18 appearances in all competitions before returning to Romania on 27 June 2017, joining CFR Cluj also on loan. He was an undisputed starter during his stint, winning back-to-back national championships.

On 2 September 2019, fellow Liga I team FCSB agreed a deal to sign Manea on loan with an option to buy. He fell out of favour at the Bucharest-based club, and on 31 January 2020 returned to CFR Cluj on loan for the remainder of the season.

CFR Cluj
On 6 September 2020, Manea signed a four-year deal with CFR Cluj for an undisclosed transfer fee.

International career
Manea earned caps for Romania at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. In May 2014, he was called up to the senior team by manager Victor Pițurcă, despite having only made five club appearances at the time. Manea made his debut as a starter against Albania on the 31st that month, aged 16 years, 9 months and 22 days. He became the youngest footballer to play for Romania since 1928, after breaking the record set by Grațian Sepi.

Manea registered his first senior goal for the country on 5 June 2018, scoring the opener in a 2–0 friendly win over Finland at the Ilie Oană Stadium in Ploiești. The following year, he featured for the under-21 side in all four matches of the 2019 UEFA European Championship, where Romania was eliminated by Germany in the semi-finals.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Manea goal.

Honours
CFR Cluj
Liga I: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Supercupa României: 2018, 2020

Individual
Liga I Team of the Season: 2017–18, 2022–23

References
Notes

Citations

External links

1997 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Constanța County
Romanian men's footballers
Men's association football fullbacks
Liga I players
FC Viitorul Constanța players
Apollon Limassol FC players
Belgian Pro League players
Royal Excel Mouscron players
CFR Cluj players
FC Steaua București players
Romania men's youth international footballers
Romania men's under-21 international footballers
Romania men's international footballers
Romanian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium