Andrei Gabriel Torje (; born 22 November 1989) 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 for

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 ...

club

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, wh ...

. He is a versatile

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

with the ability to swap onto the left side of the field during games. Torje was named

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year ( ro, Fotbalistul român al anului), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy ( ro, Trofeul Nicolae Dobrin), is an annual association football award given by the '' Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian ...

in 2011.

Club career

Politehnica Timișoara

Torje made his debut during the 2005–06 season for Politehnica Timișoara against Argeș Pitești and scored on his second match, against Farul Constanța. He was promoted in the first squad by

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 ...

, manager of Timișoara at that time.

Dinamo Bucharest

On 15 January 2008, Torje signed a five-year contract with

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

. The reported transfer fee was $2.5 million. He played his 100th match in

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 ...

for Dinamo on 6 May 2011, in a defeat against

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club'', whe ...

Udinese

On 30 August 2011, he signed a five-year contract with

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

for an undisclosed fee, rumored to be around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

7 million. He played his first game in Serie A against

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce, commonly referred to as Lecce (), is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2022–23 season, the top level of the Italian football pyramid, having been promoted from Serie B. ...

, on 11 September 2011, even though he had only five days of training with his new team, and he had an impressive performance, suggesting that

Alexis Sánchez Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (; born 19 December 1988), also known mononymously as Alexis, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Chile national team. He is often lauded as the g ...

may not be as irreplaceable as first thought. On 5 February 2012, Torje scored his first goal in the Serie A in a 3–2 loss against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

. On 24 March, in a game against Palermo he equalized the score in the 85th minute, giving his team a 1–1 draw.

Loan to Granada

In order to get more playing time, on 8 June 2012, Torje signed for

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' ...

side Granada on a season long loan. He made his debut for the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

team on 20 August, in a 1–0 away defeat against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

. Halfway through the season Torje was considered one of the most successful transfers in the

2012–13 La Liga The 2012–13 La Liga season (known as the ''Liga BBVA'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd since its establishment. The campaign began on 18 August 2012, and ended on 1 June 2013. Barcelona won the league for a 22nd time, after leading the l ...

, and he became a crucial part of the team. He was praised for his performance in the 1–0 victory over La Liga champions, Real Madrid, on 2 February 2013.

Loan to Espanyol

On 2 September 2013, Torje began his second journey in

this time being loaned at the second major club in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

. He made his debut for the club on 23 September in a 3–2 win over Athletic Bilbao. He played only 12 games for Espanyol, six in the starting lineup and six as a substitute, without scoring a goal. Thus, the Spanish side didn't activate the option to buy the player at the end of the loaning period.

Loan to Konyaspor

In June 2014, Turkish Super Lig side

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

announced that they reached an agreement with Udinese to loan the player for a season.

Loan to Dinamo București

On 2 February 2018, he rejoined

on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season.

Sivasspor

On 1 September 2018, he returned to Turkey, signing with

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

AEL

On 4 February 2020, he signed a contract with Superleague club AEL. On 22 June 2020, he scored a brace, helping to a 3–1 home win against

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

for the second game of the 2019–20 Superleague playoffs.

Bandırmaspor

After leaving AEL at the end of 2020, Torje moved to Turkish

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

club

Bandırmaspor Bandırmaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the town of Bandırma, Balıkesir Province. The club was founded in 1965 and currently plays in the TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for spon ...

in January 2021.

Farul Constanța

On 3 June 2022, joined Farul Constanța on a two-year deal. On 29 December 2022, Torje was released from the club after having his contract mutually terminated.

Gençlerbirliği

On 6 January 2023, Torje joined Turkish

club Gençlerbirliği.

International career

Torje was the captain of the Romania under-21 football team side. He also made his debut for the senior side in a friendly match against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

on 3 September 2010. He scored his first international goal in a match against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. On 2 September 2011, he scored twice in a 2–0 win over

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. Torje scored his first competitive goals in a 2–0 win over

during the

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was hel ...

. He scored three goals during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers as Romania reached the play-offs only to lose to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. He did not score in Romania's successful qualification for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

but was chosen in the tournament's 23-man squad. He started in Romania's 1–1 draw to Switzerland and made brief appearances as a substitute in Romania's defeats to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

with the latter one confirming their elimination from the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International stats

International goals

:''* Unofficial match according to the Laws of the Game (excessive number of Romanian substitutions)''

Honours

Club

Politehnica Timișoara * Cupa României runner-up: 2006–07 Dinamo București * Cupa României runner-up:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Farul Constanța *

: 2022–23

Individual

*'' Gazeta Sporturilor''

: 2011

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torje, Gabriel 1989 births Living people Footballers from Timișoara Romanian men's footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders CSF CFR Timișoara players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC Dinamo București players Udinese Calcio players Granada CF footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Konyaspor footballers FC Akhmat Grozny players Kardemir Karabükspor footballers Sivasspor footballers Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Bandırmaspor footballers FCV Farul Constanța players Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers CS Concordia Chiajna players Liga I players Liga II players Serie A players La Liga players Süper Lig players TFF First League players Russian Premier League players Super League Greece players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece UEFA Euro 2016 players