Alexandru Cornel Ioniță (; born 14 December 1994) 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 lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a winger for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club

Yunnan Yukun Yunnan Yukun Football Club () is a Chinese professional Association football, football club based in Yuxi, Yunnan, that competes in . Yunnan Yukun plays its home matches at the Yuxi Plateau Sports Center Stadium, located within Hongta District. ...

. A youth exponent of Rapid București, Ioniță made his professional debut at age 16. He moved to

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

in 2014, where he won four domestic trophies. Four years later, Ioniță was subject to a €1 million transfer to

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

, but failed to impose himself and had loan stints at Universitatea Craiova and Astra. In 2021, he returned to Rapid București. Internationally, Ioniță earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Romania senior team in a 3–1 win over

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

in September 2017.

Club career

Rapid București

Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Ioniță joined the academy of

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

at the age of six. On 21 May 2011, aged only 16 years and five months, he made his senior debut in a 1–0

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

win over FC Brașov. In the 2013–14 edition of the

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 ...

, Ioniță totalled six goals from 14 appearances.

Astra Giurgiu

Ioniță moved to

during the winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

of 2014, with fellow Liga I sides

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 ...

and Petrolul Ploiești also interested in signing him. He scored his first goal for Astra on 15 October 2015, in a 3–0 away victory over

Viitorul Constanța ''Viitorul'' ("The Future") was a daily newspaper published in the Kingdom of Romania, out of Bucharest, as a central organ of the National Liberal Party (PNL). It was formed just months after peasants' revolt of March 1907, being originally li ...

for the

Cupa Ligii The Cupa Ligii () was Romania's secondary club football tournament. Like the Cupa României, it was played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. History It is unclear when the competition was first created, as there are no official recordi ...

. On 2 May 2016, Ioniță netted twice in a 4–2 home success against Dinamo București as Astra celebrated its first league title. Following the transfer of Constantin Budescu to

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...

in June 2017, Ioniță took over his number 10 shirt. On 13 July that year, he recorded his first

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

goal in a 3–1 home defeat of Zira for the

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. Ioniță was named the Liga I Player of the Month for November 2017 after scoring in three consecutive league matches, against Universitatea Craiova,

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional Association football, football football team, club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best ...

and FCSB, respectively. Amid rumours of a transfer to

in early January 2018, Ioniță refused to renew his contract with Astra and was expelled from the first team for an undetermined period.

CFR Cluj

On 20 January 2018, Ioniță joined CFR Cluj's training camp in Spain after he was acquired for a rumoured fee of €1 million. Three days later, the move was made official. Ioniță made his competitive debut on 5 February, in a 2–0 league win against Concordia Chiajna at home. Later that month, he recorded his first goal for CFR in a 2–0 away success over Juventus București, after netting in the rebound from his

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

that had been saved by his former Rapid teammate Virgil Drăghia. In July 2019, following a disappointing 2018–19 campaign in which he only scored two goals from 27 appearances in all competitions, Ioniță agreed to a one-

year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...

loan at Universitatea Craiova with a purchase option. After also failing to settle down at Craiova, the deal was terminated prematurely and he returned to Astra Giurgiu on loan at the start of 2020. In September 2020, the Romanian Anti-Doping Agency handed Ioniță along with two of his Astra teammates a one-year playing ban after they each received intravenous injections of more than 100mL of vitamins within 24 hours. On 7 September 2021, CFR Cluj announced the termination of Ioniță's contract on a mutual agreement.

Return to Rapid București

On 16 September 2021, Ioniță re-signed for Rapid București as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, after agreeing to a three-year contract. He played his first match on 17 October, a 2–0 victory over previous club CFR Cluj in the Liga I. Ioniță scored his first goal upon return on 11 February 2022, equalising late in a 1–1 league draw with Sepsi OSK as his team played 40 minutes with one player less. On 13 March, he opened the scoring in a 3–1 Bucharest derby win against Dinamo, the first in almost 14 years.

Yunnan Yukun

On 26 February 2024, Rapid București announced that Ioniță was transferred to

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

side

International career

In September 2017, Ioniță was selected by the Romania senior team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He earned his first

in the former match, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for double goal scorer Constantin Budescu in the 3–1 win in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

Personal life

Ioniță's father played football in the lower divisions and, like the son, is a supporter of Rapid București.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Astra Giurgiu *

: 2015–16 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 2013–14 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

CFR Cluj *Liga I: 2017–18, 2018–19 *Supercupa României:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Yunnan Yukun *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * DigiSport Liga I Player of the Month: November 2017

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ionita, Alexandru 1994 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers Liga I players Liga II players China League One players Chinese Super League players FC Rapid București players FC Astra Giurgiu players CFR Cluj players CS Universitatea Craiova players Yunnan Yukun F.C. 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 China Romanian expatriate sportspeople in China 21st-century Romanian sportsmen