Valentin Mihai Mihăilă (; born 2 February 2000) 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 winger for Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...

and the

Romania national football team The Romania national football team () represents Romania in men's international Association football, football, and is administered by the Romanian Football Federation (), also known as FRF. They are colloquially known as ''Tricolorii'' ("the T ...

. Mihăilă began his professional career at Universitatea Craiova in 2017, appearing in over 60

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 ...

matches before signing with Italian team Parma for €8.5 million three years later. After representing Romania at under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels, Mihăilă recorded his full debut in a 3–2 win over

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

in March 2021. He competed for the country in 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 ...

, where they won their

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and reached the

round of 16 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, w ...

Club career

Universitatea Craiova

Mihăilă made his senior debut for Universitatea Craiova on 24 October 2017, aged 17, in a 2–0 away victory over

Sepsi OSK Sepsi may refer to: *László Sepsi (born 1986), Romanian footballer of Hungarian descent *Sepsi-78, a football club from Seinäjoki, Finland *ACS Sepsi SIC ACS Sepsi SIC Sfântu Gheorghe or commonly Sepsi SIC is a women's basketball professional ...

counting for 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 ...

. He did not appear in any other match during that season, but on 9 August 2018 started in a 3–1 away defeat to

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

in the

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 ...

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

. His

debut also came against Sepsi OSK, in a 0–1 loss on 29 July 2018. Mihăilă began to play frequently, and on 19 April 2019 recorded his first league goal—and the only of the match—in an away fixture with

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 ...

, one of his former youth clubs. He amassed 32 matches across all competitions in the 2018–19 campaign, and in December 2019 manager

Victor Pițurcă Victor Pițurcă (; born 8 May 1956) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Club career Victor Pițurcă was born on 8 May 1956 in Orodel, Dolj County, Romania, starting to play football in 1964 at the youth center of U ...

confirmed that Craiova rejected a €5 million bid for him from fellow league team

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 ...

. During his third season in

Oltenia Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...

, Mihăilă totalled nine goals and came close to claiming the national championship; his side however lost the final fixture 1–3 to eventual champions

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 ...

on 3 August 2020.

Parma

On 5 October 2020, Italian team

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

announced the signing of Mihăilă on a five-year contract, with the transfer fee being reportedly worth €8.5 million. The sum represented the third- most expensive sale of the Romanian championship at the time, slightly surpassing his former Craiova teammate Alexandru Mitriță on that place. After recovering from

athletic pubalgia Athletic pubalgia, also called sports hernia, core injury, hockey hernia, hockey groin, Gilmore's groin, or groin disruption, is a medical condition of the pubic joint affecting athletes. It is a syndrome characterized by chronic groin pain in ...

, Mihăilă made his debut on 3 January 2021 by coming on as a substitute in a 0–3

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

loss to

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 ...

. Mihăilă was a starter for the first time on 21 January 2021, scoring the equaliser in an eventual 1–2 defeat to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

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 ...

. He registered his first league goal on 7 March, in a 3–3 away draw with

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in which he also assisted

Jasmin Kurtić Jasmin Kurtić (born 10 January 1989) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Early career A right-footed midfielder, Kurtić joined the 1. SNL club Gorica in August 2010 from the 2. SNL club Bela ...

. The following fixture, his compatriot Dennis Man assisted him to open the scoring in a 2–0 defeat of

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 ...

. Mihăilă ended the league season with three goals from 16 appearances, as the club got relegated to the

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

. On 31 January 2022, Mihăilă joined Serie A club

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

on a five-month loan with an option to buy. He did not impress during his stint in

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

, featuring in only seven matches without scoring. After returning to Parma, Mihăilă converted a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

in the Serie B

opener Opener, Open'er or Openers may refer to: * Opener (album), ''Opener'' (album), an album by 8mm * Opener (baseball), a baseball strategy to use a relief pitcher to start a game * Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland ...

, a 2–2 draw with

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

on 12 August 2022. Mihăilă struggled with recurring injuries before regaining his fitness in the 2023–24 season, aiding with 6 goals from 35 appearances in all competitions as Parma won its first-ever Serie B title and reached the top division after a three-year pause.

Çaykur Rizespor

On 18 July 2025, Mihăilă signed a four-year contract with

in Turkey.

International career

Youth

Mihăilă attracted significant media attention after contributing to Romania national under-21 team's victory in a UEFA Euro 2021 qualifier against

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, ...

on 14 November 2019, as he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

and provoked an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

Senior

In March 2021, Mihăilă was called up for the first time to the

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 ...

squad by head coach

Mirel Rădoi Mirel Matei Rădoi (born 22 March 1981) is a Romanian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club CS Universitatea Craiova, Universitatea Craiov ...

for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

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 ...

, and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. On the 25th that month, he replaced injured

Florinel Coman Florinel Teodor Coman (; born 10 April 1998) is a Romanian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Winger, winger for Qatar Stars League club Al-Gharafa SC, Al-Gharafa, and the Romania national ...

in the first half of the former game and netted in the 3–2 win at the

Arena Națională The National Arena () is a retractable roof football stadium in Bucharest, Romania. It opened in 2011 on the site of the original National Stadium, which was demolished between 2007 and 2008. The stadium hosts major football matches including h ...

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 ...

. On 19 June 2023, Mihăilă came on in the second half of a Euro 2024 qualifier against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and scored a late double to earn his team a 2–2 draw. He was then meant to join up with the under-21 team for the 2023 European Championship, but was ruled out after suffering an injury in the latter match. Romania secured their spot in the

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 football championship organised by U ...

by finishing first in their qualifying group, and on 7 June 2024 Mihăilă was selected as part of the final squad. He made three appearances and only started in the 0–2 loss to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

on 22 June, as his country won its

before being eliminated by the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the

Style of play

Mihăilă is primarily deployed as a winger on the left flank, his standout quality being his pace. During Euro 2024, he showcased it by recording one of the fastest speeds of the tournament at 35.8 km/h.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Universitatea Craiova *

: 2017–18 *

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:

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 ...

Parma *

: 2023–24

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mihaila, Valentin 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Târgoviște 21st-century Romanian sportsmen Romanian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Romania men's international footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's youth international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players Liga I players Serie A players Serie B players Süper Lig players CS Universitatea Craiova players Parma Calcio 1913 players Atalanta BC players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey