Cristian Manea facts for kids
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Manea with CFR Cluj in 2023
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cristian Marian Manea | ||
| Date of birth | 9 August 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Agigea, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
|
Current team
|
Rapid București | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2013 | Gheorghe Hagi Academy | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014 | Viitorul Constanța | 5 | (0) |
| 2014–2020 | Apollon Limassol | 0 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | → Viitorul Constanța (loan) | 26 | (2) |
| 2015–2017 | → Mouscron (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | → CFR Cluj (loan) | 69 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | → FCSB (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2020 | → CFR Cluj (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2020–2024 | CFR Cluj | 103 | (8) |
| 2024– | Rapid București | 28 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2013 | Romania U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Romania U17 | 6 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Romania U19 | 8 | (0) |
| 2014–2019 | Romania U21 | 19 | (0) |
| 2021 | Romania Olympic | 2 | (0) |
| 2014– | Romania | 25 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 July 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2024 |
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Cristian Marian Manea (born on August 9, 1997) is a Romanian professional football player. He plays as a right-back for the Liga I club Rapid București.
Cristian started his senior career at Viitorul Constanța in 2014. Later that year, he moved to Apollon Limassol. He spent several years on loan to different clubs, including Viitorul, Mouscron, CFR Cluj, and FCSB. In 2020, he officially joined CFR Cluj. There, he helped the team win many important trophies. In 2024, he joined Rapid București.
Cristian Manea also made history for his country. In May 2014, he became the youngest player to play for the Romanian national team. He was only 16 years old at the time! In 2019, he also played for the under-21 team in a big European tournament.
Contents
Cristian Manea's Football Journey
Early Days and First Steps
Cristian Manea was born in Agigea, a town in Constanța County, Romania. He learned to play football at the Gheorghe Hagi Academy. This academy is known for training young football talents.
He made his first professional appearance for Viitorul Constanța on April 21, 2014. This was a match against Steaua București in the Liga I, Romania's top football league.
Moving to Apollon Limassol
In the summer of 2014, Cristian's playing rights were bought by a Cypriot team called Apollon Limassol. Even though he was registered with Apollon Limassol, he never actually played a game for them.
Playing on Loan
Cristian spent the 2014–15 season back on loan at his old club, Viitorul Constanța. During this time, he scored his first goal as a senior player. This happened in a game against Petrolul Ploiești on April 13, 2015.
On August 28, 2015, Cristian moved to Belgium. He joined the team Royal Excel Mouscron on loan for a season, which was then extended. He played 18 games for them before returning to Romania.
On June 27, 2017, he joined CFR Cluj on loan. He quickly became a key player for them. He helped CFR Cluj win the national championship two times in a row!
Later, on September 2, 2019, Cristian went on loan to another Romanian team, FCSB. However, he didn't play much there. So, on January 31, 2020, he returned to CFR Cluj on loan for the rest of the season.
Joining CFR Cluj Permanently
On September 6, 2020, Cristian Manea officially signed a four-year contract with CFR Cluj. This meant he was no longer on loan but a permanent player for the club.
He scored his first goal in a European competition on August 3, 2021. This was in a UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Young Boys.
Playing for Rapid București
On June 24, 2024, Cristian Manea signed a three-year contract with Rapid București. He joined them as a free agent, which means his contract with his previous club had ended.
Playing for Romania
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Cristian Manea has played for Romania at different age levels, including the under-16, under-17, under-19, and under-21 teams.
In May 2014, when he was only 16 years old, he was called up to the senior national team. This was a big deal because he had only played five club games at that point. He made his debut on May 31, 2014, against Albania. He became the youngest player to ever play for Romania since 1928!
Cristian scored his first goal for the senior national team on June 5, 2018. It was the first goal in a friendly match against Finland. Romania won that game 2–0.
The next year, in 2019, he played for the under-21 team in the UEFA European Championship. Romania's team did very well, reaching the semi-finals before being knocked out by Germany.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Viitorul Constanța | 2013–14 | Liga I | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Viitorul Constanța (loan) | 2014–15 | Liga I | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 2 | ||
| Mouscron (loan) | 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Belgian Pro League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| CFR Cluj (loan) | 2017–18 | Liga I | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 35 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19 | Liga I | 34 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 1 | ||
| Total | 69 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 1 | |||
| FCSB (loan) | 2019–20 | Liga I | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| CFR Cluj (loan) | 2019–20 | Liga I | 5 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| CFR Cluj | 2020–21 | Liga I | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | Liga I | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | Liga I | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 5 | ||
| 2023–24 | Liga I | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 25 | 2 | |||
| Total | 108 | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | 36 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 149 | 9 | |||
| Rapid București | 2024–25 | Liga I | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 28 | 1 | |||
| 2025–26 | Liga I | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 28 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 31 | 1 | |||||
| Career total | 252 | 12 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 314 | 13 | ||
International Appearances
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Manea goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 June 2018 | Stadionul Ilie Oană, Ploiești, Romania |  Finland |
1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 5 September 2021 | Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania |  Liechtenstein |
2–0 | 2–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Awards and Achievements
CFR Cluj
- Liga I: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 (Won the top Romanian league five times!)
- Supercupa României: 2018, 2020 (Won the Romanian Supercup twice!)
Individual Awards
- Liga I Team of the Season: 2017–18, 2022–23 (Chosen as one of the best players in the league for these seasons!)
See also
In Spanish: Cristian Manea para niños
