Cristian George Ganea (; born 24 May 1992) 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

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 Farul Constanța. After emerging through the Spanish football system, Ganea returned to Romania at age 21 and moved around several teams before settling at

Viitorul Constanța ''Viitorul'' ("The Future") was a daily newspaper published in the Kingdom of Romania, out of Bucharest, as a central organ of the National Liberal Party (PNL). It was formed just months after peasants' revolt of March 1907, being originally li ...

. He won the national title in 2016–17 season with the latter, which prompted a transfer to

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

in 2018. He only made one

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

appearance, serving loan spells at Numancia and back at Viitorul before being released and signing for Greek club

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

in 2020. Internationally, Ganea made 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 2017, 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Ganea moved from Romania to Spain with his family while still a

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

. He grew up in

Basauri Basauri is a major municipality of Biscay, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. The town is a part of the Greater Bilbao conurbation, being only a few kilometers south of Bilbao. ...

south of

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

where his relatives still live, and spent several years playing with local clubs. In 2010, Ganea signed for

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

. After a year with their youth teams, he was assigned to the reserve squad, but was then loaned to local fourth-tier club CD Santanyí for one and a half seasons, during which he played regularly.

Return to Romania / Viitorul Constanța

In January 2013, Ganea returned to his country of birth to sign for

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

FCM Târgu Mureș The word FCM may refer to: Science and technology * FCM (chemotherapy), a chemotherapy regimen * Flow cytometry * Food contact materials * Fuel-containing material * Flight control module, a computer that assists in the control of an aircraft C ...

. That summer he moved on to

CS Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (), CS U Craiova, or simply U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County. It competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian league ...

in the same league, helping them to earn promotion in his sole campaign 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 ...

. Ganea then transferred to Săgeata Năvodari, staying in the Liga II and this time enduring an administrative relegation as his club were deducted 42 points for unpaid debts and subsequently dissolved during mid-season. Ganea signed with FC Brașov for the latter part of the

2014–15 Liga I The 2014–15 Liga I was the ninety-seventh season of Liga I, the top-level association football, football league of Romania. The season began on the 25 July 2014 and ended on 30 May 2015. 2 Mário Felgueiras was transferred to Konyaspor during ...

, but they too suffered relegation and experienced severe financial problems. In the summer of 2015, Ganea moved to

, owned and coached by former Romanian international

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in ...

. In the 2015–16 season, the club finished fifth and qualified for 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 ...

. The following campaign, he helped Viitorul win the Romanian league title for the first time in their short history. Ganea was a regular during both seasons, with 58 league starts. He also played in the club's early exits from the qualifying rounds of both the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and

Athletic Bilbao

On 15 January 2018,

announced the signing of Ganea on a three-year contract with the option of another year, with the player due to join the squad in the summer; he was deemed eligible to join under their signing policy due to his time developing as a young player in the Basque region. Almost as soon as he arrived in Bilbao, the club signed

Yuri Berchiche Yuri Berchiche Izeta (born 10 February 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. He began his senior career at Tottenham Hotspur without making a first-team appearance, being loaned t ...

, who was immediately installed as first choice in the left back position, with the previous regular

Mikel Balenziaga Mikel Balenziaga Oruesagasti (; ; born 29 February 1988) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He spent the better part of his career with Athletic Bilbao, totalling 321 appearances and winning two Supercopa de ...

also still part of the squad and ahead in the queue for selection. Ganea made his debut for the club on 28 November 2018 in a

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

game against

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. Five days later he made his

debut in a 0–3 loss to Levante, but was stretchered off with a torso injury early in the second half of the match and replaced by habitual starter Markel Susaeta. After recovering from the injury, on 9 January 2019 Ganea was loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side Numancia until June. After playing regularly in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

he returned to Athletic Bilbao, but was again afflicted by injuries and made no further appearances before being loaned again, this time back to his former club Viitorul Constanța, in January 2020. The season in Romania was soon postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and Ganea's loan spell expired before all fixtures were completed; he went back to Spain in July 2020 with a possibility of participating in Athletic's final few matches, which had also been delayed due to the pandemic, but was not named in any match squads before the end of the campaign. On 11 August 2020, Ganea's contract with Athletic was terminated.

Aris

On 14 August 2020, he joined

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

side

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

on a two-year contract. On 28 February 2021, he scored his first goal for the club with an exquisite shot in a comfortable 3–0 home win against

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou Atromitos Yeroskipou () was a Cy ...

International career

Ganea was called up to the Basque Country national under-18 team. He made his full debut for

on 13 June 2017 in a friendly against

Personal life

Ganea does not hold

Spanish citizenship The Spanish nationality legal framework refers to all the laws, provisions, regulations, and resolutions in Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes ...

yet. He regarded the Basques as "extraordinary people, with

common sense Common sense () is "knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument". As such, it is often considered to represent the basic level of sound practical judgement or know ...

and welcoming." He also praised the Basque Country, saying it's the cleanest and quietest in Spain and that its streets and infrastructure generally do not have a correspondent across the country.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Universitatea Craiova *

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 ...

: 2013–14 Viitorul Constanța *

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

FCSB *Liga I: 2023–24

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganea, Cristian 1992 births Living people Footballers from Bistrița Romanian emigrants to Spain Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Tercera División players Liga I players Liga II players La Liga players Super League Greece players RCD Mallorca B players ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș players CS Universitatea Craiova players AFC Săgeata Năvodari players FC Brașov (1936) players FC Viitorul Constanța players Athletic Bilbao footballers CD Numancia players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players FCSB players FCV Farul Constanța players Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Segunda División players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 21st-century Romanian sportsmen