Cristian George Ganea (; born 24 May 1992) is a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Super League Greece club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. After emerging through the Spanish football system, Ganea returned to Romania at age 21 and moved around several teams before settling at Viitorul Constanța. He won the national title in 2016–17 season with the latter, which prompted a transfer to Athletic Bilbao in 2018. He only made one

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

appearance, serving loan spells at Numancia and back at Viitorul before being released and signing for Greek club

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

in 2020. Internationally, Ganea made his full debut for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

in June 2017, in a 3–2 friendly victory over

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Club career

Early career

Ganea moved from Romania to Spain with his family while still a minor. He grew up in

Basauri Basauri is a major municipality of Biscay, in the Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. The town is a part of the Greater Bilbao conurbation, being only a few kilometers south of Bilbao. It is an industrial town that also i ...

where his relatives still live, and spent several years playing with

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

clubs making him eligible for Athletic Bilbao. In 2010, Ganea signed for RCD Mallorca. After a year with their youth teams, he was assigned to the reserve squad, but was then loaned to local fourth-tier club CD Santanyí for one and a half seasons, during which he played regularly.

Return to Romania / Viitorul Constanța

In January 2013, Ganea returned to his country of birth to sign for

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

FCM Târgu Mureș The word FCM may refer to: Science and technology * FCM (chemotherapy), a chemotherapy regimen * Flow cytometry * Food contact materials * Fuel-containing material * Flight control module, a computer that assists in the control of an aircraft ...

. That summer he moved on to

CS Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (), CS U Craiova, or simply U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football team based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian lea ...

in the same league, helping them to earn promotion in his sole campaign in

Oltenia Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...

. Ganea then transferred to

Săgeata Năvodari Săgeata is a commune in Buzău County, Muntenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to ...

, staying in the Liga II and this time enduring an administrative relegation as his club were deducted 42 points for unpaid debts and subsequently dissolved during mid-season. Ganea signed with FC Brașov for the latter part of the

2014–15 Liga I The 2014–15 Liga I was the ninety-seventh season of Liga I, the top-level football league of Romania. The season began on the 25 July 2014 and ended on 30 May 2015. 2 Mário Felgueiras was transferred to Konyaspor during the winter transfer ...

, but they too suffered relegation and experienced severe financial problems. In the summer of 2015, Ganea moved to Viitorul Constanța, owned and coached by former Romanian international

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe "Gică" Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner and manager of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of ...

. In the 2015–16 season, the club finished fifth and qualified for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. The following campaign, he helped Viitorul win the Romanian league title for the first time in their short history. Ganea was a regular during both seasons, with 58 league starts. He also played in the club's early exits from the qualifying rounds of both the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

and

Athletic Bilbao

On 15 January 2018, Athletic Bilbao announced the signing of Ganea on a three-year contract with the option of another year, with the player due to join the squad in the summer. Almost as soon as he arrived in Bilbao, the club signed

Yuri Berchiche Yuri Berchiche Izeta (born 10 February 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. He began his senior career at Tottenham Hotspur without making a first-team appearance, being loaned t ...

, who played in the same position and was immediately installed as first choice, with the previous regular

Mikel Balenziaga Mikel Balenziaga Oruesagasti (; ; born 29 February 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Athletic Bilbao. Club career Born in Zumarraga, Gipuzkoa, Balenziaga started his football grooming at Real Sociedad, pla ...

also still with Athletic and ahead of Ganea in the queue for selection. He made his debut on 28 November 2018 in a

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

game against

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. Five days later, he made his

debut in a 0–3 loss to Levante, being stretchered off with a torso injury early in the second half of the match, and was replaced by habitual starter

Markel Susaeta Markel Susaeta Laskurain (, ; born 14 December 1987) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right winger. He spent almost the entirety of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao after making his debut with the first team in 2007, ...

. On 9 January 2019, Ganea was loaned to Segunda División side Numancia until June. After playing regularly in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

he returned to Athletic Bilbao, but was again afflicted by injuries and made no further appearances before being loaned again, this time back to his former club Viitorul Constanța, in January 2020. The season in Romania was soon postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and Ganea's loan spell expired before all fixtures were completed; he went back to Spain in July 2020 with a possibility of participating in Athletic's final few matches, which had also been delayed due to the pandemic, but he was not named in any match squads before the end of the campaign. On 11 August 2020, Ganea's contract with Athletic was terminated.

Aris

On 14 August 2020, he joined Super League Greece side

on a two-year contract. On 28 February 2021, he scored his first goal for the club with an exquisite shot in a comfortable 3–0 home win against Atromitos.

International career

Ganea was called up to the Basque Country national under-18 team. He made his full debut for

on 13 June 2017 in a friendly against

Personal life

Ganea does not hold

Spanish citizenship Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and los ...

yet. He regarded the Basques as "extraordinary people, with

common sense ''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arg ...

and welcoming." He also praised the Basque Country, saying it's the cleanest and quietest in Spain and that its streets and infrastructure generally do not have a correspondent across the country.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Universitatea Craiova *

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting c ...

: 2013–14 Viitorul Constanța *

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

: 2016–17 * Supercupa României runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganea, Cristian 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Bistrița Romanian emigrants to Spain Romanian footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Tercera División players Liga I players Liga II players La Liga players Super League Greece players RCD Mallorca B players ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș players CS Universitatea Craiova players AFC Săgeata Năvodari players FC Brașov (1936) players FC Viitorul Constanța players Athletic Bilbao footballers CD Numancia players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players Romania international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Segunda División players