Tudor Cristian Băluță (; born 27 March 1999) 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

defensive 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

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

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

club

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...

Club career

Viitorul Constanța

Băluță began his career in native

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

, joining the Gheorghe Popescu Football School at age 8. Six years later, he moved to Viitorul Constanța's

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Băluță made his professional debut in the

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 ...

on 2 May 2016, aged 17, replacing Ianis Hagi in the 54th minute of a 6–1 thrashing of ASA Târgu Mureș. Tudor Baluta - 24

He did not feature in any senior games in the next season as Viitorul won the first league title in its history, but started appearing frequently for the side since the summer of 2017. On 24 August that year, Băluță recorded his European debut in a UEFA Europa League play-off round 0–4 loss to Red Bull Salzburg. On 30 August 2018, he scored his first goal—and the only of the match—in a league win over

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 ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

Băluță agreed to a three-and-a-half-year contract with English club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on 31 January 2019. Băluță was immediately loaned back to Viitorul Constanța for the remainder of the campaign. Press reported the transfer fee at

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

3 million, which made him the club's most expensive sale at the time, tied with Florinel Coman. On 25 May, he was a starter and played the full match in the

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 ...

final 2–1 success against Astra Giurgiu. Returning to Brighton during pre-season following the expiration of his loan, Băluță made the bench for the first time for "the Seagulls" in a 2–1 away win over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

on 27 August 2019 and was named on the bench in a

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

fixture for the first time in a 1–1 home draw against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on 14 September. He remained an unused substitute in both fixtures. Băluță made his debut for the Sussex club in the

playing the whole match in the 3–1 home defeat to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

on 25 September.

Loan to ADO Den Haag

On 17 January 2020 it was confirmed that Băluță had joined

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut for the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side a week later playing the full match in a 4–0 away loss at

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

. Băluță made 4 appearances for

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

based side with his time at the club cut short due to the Dutch FA taking the decision to cancel the season due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Loan to Dynamo Kyiv

On 4 October 2020 the loan of Băluță to

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

was confirmed by the president of the club Ihor Surkis in his interview. He made his debut for Kiev in what was also his first Champions League appearance coming on as a substitute in a 2–2 away draw against Hungarian side

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

on 28 October. Băluță made his

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

debut coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 away victory against

Inhulets The Inhulets () or Ingulets () is a river, a right tributary of the Dnieper, that flows through Ukraine. It has a length of and a drainage basin of . The Inhulets has its source in the Dnieper Upland in a ravine (balka) to the west of Topylo ...

on 21 November.

Farul Constanța

On 12 July 2022, Băluță signed a two-year contract with Liga I team Farul Constanța.

Śląsk Wrocław

On 19 July 2024,

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

announced the signing of Băluță on a two-year deal, with an option for a further year.

International career

Băluță earned his first senior

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

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 ...

on 31 May 2018, coming on as a 71st-minute substitute for his former Viitorul Constanța teammate Dragoș Nedelcu in a 3–2 friendly victory over

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Despite not playing in the qualifiers, Băluță was selected in

's squad for the

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019) was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (25th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth association ...

in Italy. Băluță scored on debut against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

on 19 June, which ended in a 4–1 win for his side. He recorded three more games as ''Tricolorii mici'' were eliminated by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

, following a 2–4 defeat.

Style of play

Băluță is primarily deployed as a

, but started out as a

. He has been likened to former Romanian international and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

captain Gheorghe Popescu, also a native of

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)-Jiu River, Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, ...

, who in his turn described Băluță as an "intelligent player" with "exceptional qualities".

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Viitorul Constanța *

: 2016–17 *

: 2018–19 *

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 ...

runner-up:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Dynamo Kyiv *

: 2020–21 *

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( ) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qu ...

: 2020–21 Farul Constanța *Liga I: 2022–23 *Supercupa României runner-up:

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 ...

Śląsk Wrocław II *

III liga, group III III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * I ...

: 2024–25 Individual *''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

'' Romania Player of the Month: May 2023 *Liga I Team of the Season: 2022–23

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baluta, Tudor 1999 births Living people Footballers from Craiova Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Ukrainian Premier League players Ekstraklasa players III liga players FC Viitorul Constanța players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players ADO Den Haag players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FCV Farul Constanța players Śląsk Wrocław players Romania men's youth international footballers Romania men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Romania Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Poland 21st-century Romanian sportsmen