Claudiu Iulian Niculescu (born 23 June 1976) is a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former striker, currently in charge of

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

club CSM Slatina.

Club career

Early career

Claudiu Niculescu was born in Slatina and started playing football at the youth club CSȘ Slatina, alongside

Ionel Dănciulescu Ionel Daniel Dănciulescu (born 6 December 1976) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward, currently head of youth development at Liga III club CS Dinamo Bucureșt ...

Ionuț Luțu Ionuț is a Romanian masculine given name. The English equivalent is Johnny. Notable persons with that name include: * Ionuț Andrei (born 1985), Romanian bobsledder * Ionuț Badea (born 1975), Romanian footballer * Ionuț Bălan (born 1978), ...

and

Augustin Chiriță Augustin Eduard Chiriță (born 10 October 1975) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in ...

, being coached by Ion Pârvulescu. He started his senior career playing at Jiul IELIF Craiova in Divizia B, after which he played for one season at

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats List of cities and towns on the river Danube, lyin ...

in Divizia C, returning for the following one season and a half to play in Divizia B at Electroputere Craiova.

Universitatea Craiova

Niculescu made his

Divizia A 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 ...

debut on 1 March 1998, playing for Universitatea Craiova under Spanish coach

José Ramón Alexanko José Ramón Alexanko Ventosa (; born 19 May 1956), also known as Alexanko or Alesanco, is a Spanish retired football player and manager, who later served as director of football of Valencia. During his career the central defender played with ...

in a 2–1 victory against Petrolul Ploiești in which he scored one goal. He spent three years and a half with '' The Blue Lions'', scoring 41 goals in 93 Divizia A matches, appearing in two games without scoring from the 2000–01 UEFA Cup, also reaching two

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 ...

finals.

Dinamo București and Genoa

In 2001 he went to play for Dinamo București where in his first season he won the Divizia A title, being the second top-goalscorer of the league with 15 goals, as coaches Cornel Dinu and Marin Ion gave him 28 appearances. In 2002, shortly after scoring a spectacular goal from about 30 meters against goalkeeper Iker Casillas in a friendly which ended with a 5–2 loss against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, Niculescu was transferred to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

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 ...

for a fee estimated by the Romanian press between €700.000 and €1 million. He spent only one year with '' The Griffin'', being teammate with compatriots

Adrian Mihalcea Adrian Dumitru Mihalcea (born 24 May 1976) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga I club UTA Arad. Career Mihalcea spent many years playing with one of the top Romanian teams, Dinamo Bucureș ...

and Paul Codrea, making only 13 appearances in which he scored three goals as his stay there was affected by injuries, returning to Dinamo who agreed to pay the Genovese team €800.000 to get him back. In the first season, following his return to '' The Red Dogs'', he helped them win The Double, contributing with 16 goals scored in the 28 league matches in which he was used by coach

Ioan Andone Ioan Andone (; born 15 March 1960) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player. Club career Corvinul Hunedoara Ioan Andone, nicknamed "Fălcosul" was born on 15 March 1960 in Șpălnaca , and when he was 14 years old, he playe ...

and netted the second goal of the 2–0 victory in front of Oțelul Galați from the Cupa României final. In the same season, he gave his contribution to the elimination of

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

by scoring a goal in each leg of the 5–2 victory on aggregate from the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. On 21 November 2004, Niculescu was in the center of a controversy when during an away game with his former team, Universitatea Craiova, a fan entered the field and threw a "U" Craiova scarf in his face, after which he screamed:"You are a stinking traitor!", shortly after, his teammate

tackled the fan to the ground. In the 2004–05 season he scored 21 goals, including all the goals in a 4–0 with

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 ...

, sharing with

Gheorghe Bucur Gheorghe "Gigel" Bucur (born 8 April 1980) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a winger or a striker. Bucur has won the top league goalscorer award in the Romanian league twice, in the 2004–05 and in the 2008–09 ...

the top-goalscorer of Divizia A title, forming a couple in Dinamo's offence with

, the Romanian press calling them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired from the first letters of their family name and the Romanian pop band "N&D". Niculescu started the following season by scoring the final goal of the 3–2 victory against

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 ...

Steaua București which helped the team earn for the first time in its history 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 ...

. Also Andone used him in the

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

campaign when they eliminated

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cypriot professional multi-sport club, established on 4 June 1948 in Nico ...

against whom he scored a goal, then they got pass Everton against whom he also scored a goal in a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage where he defeated goalkeeper

Fabien Barthez Fabien Alain Barthez (born 28 June 1971) is a French racing driver and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At club level, he played football in both France and England with Toulouse, Marseille, Monaco, Manchester United and ...

by scoring a goal from a 20 meters free kick in a 2–1 away loss to

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Founded in 1899, OM has ...

. In the 2006–07 season under the guidance of coach

Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...

, Niculescu won another championship title with Dinamo and became the top-goalscorer of the league with 18 goals, four of these were scored in a 4–1 against rivals

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

and two in a 4–2 victory in a derby with Steaua București. With eight goals scored in the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

, of which four were in the group stage against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

and a double in the 2–1 victory in front of

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

for which he received a 10 in the ''

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. ...

'' newspaper, Niculescu was the second best goal-scorer of the competition, having three less than Espanyol's

Walter Pandiani Walter Gerardo Pandiani Urquiza (born 27 April 1976) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a striker. His performances for Peñarol earned him a move to Deportivo in Spain, where he remained for the vast majority of ...

, helping ''The Red Dogs'' reach the sixteenths-finals where they were eliminated by Benfica. In the following season, Dinamo had the objective of reaching the Champions League group stage, Niculescu playing in both legs of the third qualifying round against Lazio Roma, which however was lost with 4–2 on aggregate.

MSV Duisburg and Omonia

In January 2008, Niculescu was transferred by Dinamo at

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

for 700.000€, where he was wanted by coach

Rudi Bommer Rudolf "Rudi" Bommer (born 19 August 1957) is a German former footballer, who played as a midfielder, and current football manager. Playing career Born in Aschaffenburg, Bommer played 417 games between 1976 and 1996 for Fortuna Düsseldorf, Ba ...

, being teammate with fellow Romanians Mihai Tararache and

Iulian Filipescu Iulian Sebastian Filipescu (born 29 March 1974) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Club career Filipescu was born in Slatina, Olt County. He debuted in Divizia A with Steaua București in 1992, where he ...

, playing 15

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

matches in which he scored four goals against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

but at the end of the season he was transferred in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

at Omonia for 200.000€.

Dinamo and Universitatea Cluj

In 2009 he returned for a third spell at Dinamo which lasted one year and a half, a period in which he helped the club fulfill "The wonder from

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

" after winning with 3–0 the away game against Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009–10 Europa League. In the summer of 2010 he went to play for Universitatea Cluj, the highlights of this period being a brace in a 4–3 victory over his former team, Dinamo, then another goal against them in a 2–1 win, also he scored a goal directly from a corner kick in a 1–1 with Astra Ploiești. He made his last

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 on 12 March 2012, playing for "U" Cluj in a 1–0 home loss in front of Steaua. Claudiu Niculescu was a striker skilled in free kicks, being nicknamed "Lunetistul" ''(The Sniper)'' by the Romanian press and he is 11th in an all-time ranking for the goalscorers in

with 156 goals scored in 326 matches played, also with 43 games and 18 goals scored for Dinamo in European matches, he is the player with the most appearances and top scorer in European competitions for the club.

International career

Claudiu Niculescu played 8 games at international level 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 ...

, making his debut when coach

László Bölöni Ladislau "Loți" Iosif Bölöni (; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. After starting out at ASA Târgu Mureș (1962), ASA Târgu Mureș, Böl� ...

sent him on the field in order to replace Marius Niculae in the 81st minute of a friendly which ended with a 2–1 victory against

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

. He also played two games at the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and one at the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Niculescu's last appearance for the national team took place on 22 August 2007 in a 2–0 home win in a friendly with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Career statistics

International

Coaching career

His first experience as a coach was in November 2010 for two matches at Universitatea Cluj, where he was at the same time an active player. His second experience as a coach started in March 2012 which was also at "U" Cluj and also being in the same time an active player. In 15 games under his command, the club won four games, draw in six and lost five. Niculescu resigned after the first game of the 2012–13 season, a loss 6–2 at

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 25 September 2012, Niculescu was installed as the head coach of

team Bihor Oradea with an objective to help the team promote to the first division. In December, Niculescu ended his contract, after only eight games (two wins, three draws and three losses). In January 2013, Niculescu took over Damila Măciuca, in

. September 2018, Niculescu was appointed coach of Dinamo București, following the dismissal of

Florin Bratu Florin Daniel Bratu (born 2 January 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga II club CS Dinamo București. Club career Florin Bratu was born on 2 January 1980 in Bucharest, Romania where i ...

. He signed a contract until 2020. On 7 January 2021, Niculescu signed a contract with

side

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional Association football, football football team, club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best ...

Managerial statistics

:''Updated as of 10 May 2025''

Personal life

Claudiu Niculescu's brothers Mihai and Dragoș and his cousin Ovidiu were footballers in the Romanian lower leagues. His father Marin was a football coach in the Romanian lower leagues. In 1998 he married Lidia and they had together two kids, Alexandru and Rebecca. They divorced in 2006. In June 2007, he married Diana Munteanu who was a TV host, their wedding was considered the wedding of the year by the Romanian press. Together they had a son named David Cristian. Claudiu and Diana divorced in 2014.

Honours

Player

Universitatea Craiova *

runner-up: 1997–98, 1999–2000 Dinamo București *

: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07 *

: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Individual

top scorer: 2004–05 (joint with Gigel Bucur), 2006–07

Coach

Voluntari *

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niculescu, Claudiu 1976 births Living people Footballers from Slatina, Romania Romanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards FC Drobeta-Turnu Severin players FC U Craiova 1948 players FC Dinamo București players MSV Duisburg players Genoa CFC players AC Omonia players FC Universitatea Cluj players Liga I players Liga II players Liga III players Bundesliga players Serie B players Cypriot First Division players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Romania men's international footballers Romanian football managers Liga I managers Liga II managers FC Universitatea Cluj managers FC Bihor Oradea (1958) managers CS Sportul Snagov managers CS Mioveni managers FC Voluntari managers FC Dinamo București managers Al-Tai FC managers CS Concordia Chiajna managers FC Politehnica Iași (2010) managers CSC 1599 Șelimbăr managers CSM Slatina (football) managers Saudi First Division League managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia