Marius Ștefănescu (; born 14 August 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger or 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. ...

for

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 ...

club

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 ...

. Ștefănescu spent the first part of his senior career at Sepsi OSK, for which he made his professional debut in 2019, aged 20. He totalled 160 appearances in the top league and aided them in winning four domestic trophies, before transferring to FCSB in 2024. Internationally, Ștefănescu registered 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 ...

in June 2022, in a 0–3

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

loss to

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Club career

Early career / Sepsi OSK

2017–2019: Loan to KSE Târgu Secuiesc

Born in

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...

, Ștefănescu joined the academy of Sepsi OSK from Viitorul Cluj, with his former side retaining 50% participation rights in a co-ownership deal. Between 2017 and 2019, he was loaned out to nearby club KSE Târgu Secuiesc, where he registered his debut as a senior in the

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

championship.

2019–2023: Professional debut and development

On 12 July 2019, Ștefănescu played his first

match for Sepsi by coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for István Fülöp in a goalless draw with Voluntari. He scored his first two goals in the competition on 10 December that year, in a 4–0 thrashing of Academica Clinceni. On 22 July 2020, Ștefănescu started in a 0–1 loss to

in the Cupa României final. He recorded his European debut on 22 July 2021, in a 0–0 away draw with Spartak Trnava counting for the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

second qualifying round. On 31 October, he scored a double in a 4–1 league defeat of Dinamo București. On 19 May 2022, Ștefănescu aided Sepsi in winning its first trophy after netting twice in the 2–1 win against Voluntari in the Cupa României, and thus ended the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

with 12 goals from 42 appearances in all competitions. In May and July 2022, he was consecutively named the Romania Player of the Month by the '' Gazeta Sporturilor'' daily. On 21 July that year, he scored his first European goal in a 3–1 defeat of Olimpija Ljubljana in the Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

2023–2024: Transfer saga and best-goalscoring season

In the summer of 2023, Ștefănescu was heavily linked with fellow league clubs and

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Rapid București and FCSB, but nothing came of it. In March 2024, Rapid shareholders Dan Șucu and Victor Angelescu accused Ștefănescu of intentionally getting booked in a match with Petrolul Ploiești (2–1 away win) so he would be suspended against FCSB—they believed Sepsi and FCSB had already agreed on a deal for his transfer the next summer. Sepsi owner László Diószegi responded by stating he would not sell Ștefanescu to FCSB for "not even €10 million". Ștefănescu ended the 2023–24 season, his last at Sepsi OSK, by scoring a career-best 14 goals from 45 matches in all competitions.

FCSB

On 14 June 2024, FCSB officially announced the signing of Ștefanescu, with owner Gigi Becali reporting the transfer fee as €1.31 million. He scored on his official debut on 4 July, in a 3–0 win over Corvinul Hunedoara in the

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 ...

, representing his third consecutive success in the competition. Ștefanescu scored his first league goal for the ''Roș-albaștrii'' on 9 August 2024, converting a free kick in a 3–2 home victory over Farul Constanța. On 26 September, he scored in a 4–1 win over RFS in the opening fixture of the Europa League league phase.

International career

Ștefănescu was called up to the Romania national team for the first time by coach Edward Iordănescu on 24 May 2022, for the four opening group games with

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in the

. He made his debut against the former opponent, starting in the 0–3 away loss on 14 June.

Style of play

Ștefănescu is generally deployed on the left flank in an advanced midfield position or as a winger, but has also played as a full-back on occasion.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sepsi OSK * Cupa României: 2021–22, 2022–23 *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

FCSB *

: 2024–25 *Supercupa României:

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 *'' Gazeta Sporturilor'' Romania Player of the Month: May 2022, July 2022

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanescu, Marius 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Caracal, Romania Footballers from Olt County Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers Liga I players Liga III players Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe players FCSB players Romania men's international footballers 21st-century Romanian sportsmen