Dumitru Alexandru Copil (born 14 March 1990) is a

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 ...

n footballer, who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...

side Unirea Sântana.

Career

Early career

Copil began his career at Atletico Arad, and spent time at the Luceafărul București development centre. He came to prominence in December 2006, when it was reported that

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

were interested in signing him. He was described in the press as "the new Hagi".

Heart of Midlothian

Heart of Midlothian won the race to sign Copil, paying a fee in the region of £125,000 to secure him to a two-year deal with a further five-year option. His parents were flown over from Arad to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

to accompany him. In November 2007 the magazine World Soccer named Copil among the top 50 young footballers in the world. However, he was unable to break into Hearts' first-team and went AWOL in March 2008, returning to Arad after being substituted in a Youth Cup tie. He was persuaded to return, but told to stay away until pre-season training began in June 2008. The

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n owners of the club suspected that he was only coming back in order to be paid over the summer break. Copil's homesickness and frustration at his absence of first-team football continued in 2008–09, with Hearts' manager

Stephen Frail Stephen Charles Frail (born 10 August 1969) is a Scottish football coach and former player. He played for Dundee, Heart of Midlothian, Tranmere Rovers, St Johnstone and Greenock Morton. Returning to Hearts as a coach, he was in charge of the ...

stating that he was not yet good enough to play in the SPL. Copil left Hearts in January 2009 at the culmination of his initial two-year deal. Hearts had reneged on the five-year option, but offered a one-year extension which they claimed entitled them to a transfer fee when he moved on.

Return to Romania

While AWOL from Hearts, Copil had announced his intention to train with

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, but he rejoined Atletico Arad on transfer deadline day. After playing in the first round of the 2009–10

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 ...

for Gloria Arad, he joined

UTA Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA (''Uzina Textilă Arad''; ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County that competes in the Liga I. The team was founded in 1945 ...

on loan. In June 2010 he was linked with a move to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

. Swindon distanced themselves from the move, revealing that Copil had been on a week's trial with them in March 2010, but they could not get clearance to play him in the reserves. Between 2010 and 2013, Copil spent brief periods with various Romanian clubs, before being released by CS Ineu in 2014.

International career

Copil has represented

at U-17 level.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Copil, Dumitru 1990 births Living people Footballers from Arad, Romania Romanian Romani people Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Scottish Professional Football League players Liga II players Liga III players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players FC UTA Arad players FC Bihor Oradea (1958) players CSM Jiul Petroșani players CS Podgoria Pâncota players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland 21st-century Romanian sportsmen