Ionuț Nedelcearu (; born 25 April 1996) 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 a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club Akron Tolyatti and the Romania national team.

Club career

Dinamo București

Nedelcearu joined the youth system of

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 ...

at the age of seven. After playing for the reserves, he made his first-team debut on 31 October 2013 in a

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 ...

match against Chindia Târgoviște, aged 17. On 13 December that year, he recorded his first

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 ...

appearance in a 4–0 home victory over

ACS Poli Timișoara Asociația Club Sportiv Poli Timișoara (), commonly known as ACS Poli Timișoara, Poli Timișoara or simply ACS Poli, was a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Timișoara, Timiș County. The team was founded in 2012, the ye ...

. Nedelcearu netted his first goal for the ''Alb-roșii'' in a 3–2 away win against

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative b ...

on 28 October 2015, a game where he also scored in his own net.

Ufa

On 15 February 2018, Nedelcearu signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with

side

FC Ufa FC Ufa (, ) is a Football in Russia, Russian football club based in Ufa that plays in the Russian First League. History During the summer of 2010, Rustem Khamitov, the second President of the Bashkortostan, Republic of Bashkortostan, began consi ...

. In the summer of 2019, press reported that several teams showed interest in signing him, including

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...

AEK Athens

On 5 October 2020, Nedelcearu signed a four-year contract with

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

. On 1 November 2020, he scored his first goal, the equalizer of an eventual 2–1 home win against OFI.

Crotone

On 16 July 2021, he moved to Italian club

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

on a three-year contract, for a fee of €1.2 million.

Palermo

On 27 July 2022, following Crotone's relegation to Serie C, Nedelcearu signed for Serie B club

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

on a three-year deal. He made his debut with the ''rosanero'' in the 32nd finals of

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

against

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Akron Tolyatti

On 7 February 2025, Nedelcearu returned to Russia and signed with Akron Tolyatti.

International career

On 27 March 2018, Nedelcearu made his full debut for

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

after being brought on as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 1–0 win over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. On 7 June 2024, he was selected in Romania's squad for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

, but did not feature in any match.

Personal life

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 ...

, Nedelcearu attended the

National University of Physical Education and Sport The Universitatea Națională de Educație Fizică și Sport (UNEFS), is one of the highest-profile state public higher education institution in Romania, and was founded on 1 December 1922, in Bucharest. It was the tenth institution of its kind ...

before moving abroad for the first time. His father, Marin, was also a professional footballer, while his mother, Geta, was a sprinter in her youth.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Dinamo București *

runner-up: 2015–16 *

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 ...

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nedelcearu, Ionut 1996 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Romania men's youth international footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Dinamo București II players FC Dinamo București players Russian Premier League players Super League Greece players Serie B players FC Ufa players AEK Athens F.C. players Palermo FC players FC Crotone players FC Akron Tolyatti players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Romanian sportsmen