Ionuț Andrei Radu (; born 28 May 1997), known as Ionuț Radu or Andrei Radu, 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

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 ...

club

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

. Radu began his professional career at Inter Milan, his senior output during his first stint consisting of only one match. He was loaned to

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

in 2017, and the following year joined Genoa also on loan but with an obligation to buy. In the summer of 2019, the ''Nerazzurri'' activated his buy-back clause before loaning him again to the latter club and then to

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, ...

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

and Bournemouth, respectively. In January 2025, he was finally sold by the club to

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. Subsequently, after leaving Venezia, Radu joined La Liga club Celta Vigo in June. In international football, Radu led Romania under-21 to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2019 as their

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and as a result was awarded the

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year (), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy (), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian player adjudged to have been the best during a calendar yea ...

trophy. He then made his full debut for the country in September 2022, in a 1–1 Nations League draw with

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, ...

Club career

Early career / Inter Milan

Radu began playing football at age eight with local Viitorul București, after his grandmother read a newspaper announcement. He was transferred to Steaua București in 2008, and left the club for

rival 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 ...

side

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 ...

three years later. In 2013, he relocated to Italy by briefly joining Pergolettese at the start of the year, and then being assigned to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

's junior squads in the summer. On 14 May 2016, during the last matchday of the campaign, Radu made his senior debut for Inter by entering as a 72nd-minute substitute for

Juan Pablo Carrizo Juan Pablo Carrizo (born 6 May 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with River Plate, where he played until 2008, winning the 2008 Clausura. His performances earne ...

in a 3–1

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 ...

away defeat to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

. On 4 October that year, he penned down a new four-season deal with the ''Nerazzurri'' which would have run until June 2020. Radu agreed to a one-

year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...

loan at

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 ...

club

, with an option to buy on 15 July 2017. He made his debut in the second round of the

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 ...

, a 1–0 home win over

Matera Matera (, ; Neapolitan language, Materano: ) is a city and the capital of the Province of Matera in the regions of Italy, region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. With a history of continuous occupation dating back to the Palaeolithic (10th mi ...

on 6 August. On 18 September, he made his Serie B debut in a 1–1 home draw with

, and on 24 October kept his first

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in a 1–0 home win over

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Ital ...

. Radu ended his loan with the ''Biancoverdi'' with 24 appearances, five clean sheets and 30 conceded goals.

Genoa

2018–2019: Breakthrough season

On 29 June 2018, 21-year-old Radu was loaned 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 ...

with an obligation to join them on a full transfer the following season. Genoa Chairman

Enrico Preziosi Enrico Preziosi is an Italian entrepreneur. He runs a number of businesses and is most famous for having been the chairman () of football club Genoa C.F.C., Genoa. Toys Preziosi is the chairman () of the board of directors of Giochi Preziosi (co ...

claimed the subsequent fee was

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

9 million, which made Radu the most expensive Romanian goalkeeper, while the financial report of Inter showed €8 million. The deal also included an undisclosed buy-back clause. After

Federico Marchetti Federico Marchetti (; born 7 February 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Maltese Premier League club Marsaxlokk. Marchetti began his professional club career with Torino in 2002, and was subsequently loane ...

was used as a starter in the first four games of the 2018–19 season, Radu made his debut on 26 September against

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

in the Serie A, managing to keep a clean sheet in the 2–0 victory. He was deemed at fault for several goals his team conceded in the next fixtures, including

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

's opener in a 1–1 draw with

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

on 20 October and

Alessio Romagnoli Alessio Romagnoli (born 12 January 1995) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club SS Lazio, Lazio and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. Romagnoli began his career with ...

's late volley in a 2–1 loss to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

on the 31st of the same month; he was however encouraged by manager

Ivan Jurić Ivan Jurić (; born 25 August 1975) is a Croatian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of Serie A, Italian Serie A club Atalanta BC, Atalanta. ...

, who blamed young age as the source of his errors. On 3 November, he conceded five goals in a loss to his parent club Inter. Radu was nominated for ''

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. ...

''s 2018

award in late November. On 22 December, he saved one of the two

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

kicks awarded to

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 ...

in a 3–1 home victory at the

Stadio Luigi Ferraris The Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, also known as the Marassi from the name of the neighbourhood where it is located, is a multi-use stadium in Genoa, Italy. The home of Genoa C.F.C. and U.C. Sampdoria football clubs, it opened in 1911 and is t ...

. In January 2019, he was included by ''

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

.com'' in a list of the 50 Best Young Footballers to watch for that year. Radu managed to stay the first-choice goalkeeper under three managers, and amassed 33 league appearances throughout the season.

2019–2020: Return and fall out of favour

In June 2019, after Genoa paid the transfer fee for Radu's permanent move, he was immediately bought back by Inter Milan for €12 million. He however continued at Genoa on another loan. In December, Radu was announced as the recipient of the 2019

award by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' daily. He appeared in 17 Serie A games, before leaving Genoa in the 2020 winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, as a result of some unconvincing performances.

Return to Inter Milan

Inter Milan loaned Radu out to

for the remainder of the 2019–20 season, but he did not play in any games during his stint at the

Stadio Ennio Tardini Stadio Ennio Tardini, commonly referred to as just Il Tardini, is a association football, football stadium in Parma, Italy, located near the centre of Parma, between the town centre and the city walls. It is the home of Parma Calcio 1913. The s ...

. The next campaign, he appeared in two Serie A matches for Inter, as they became national champions of Italy for the first time in eleven years. In a rare start on 27 April 2022, Radu committed an error which allowed

Nicola Sansone Nicola Domenico Sansone (; born 10 September 1991) is an Italian professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Serie A club US Lecce, Lecce. Born in Germany, he has played for the Italy ...

to score the winner in a 2–1 league loss to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. That result dropped Inter to second place in the table, where they remained for the rest of the season behind eventual champions

Various loans

On 8 July 2022, Radu joined

on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan. On 25 January 2023, he moved on a new loan to

in France. On 27 July 2023,

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

announced the signing of Radu from Inter on a season long-loan, with a future option to make the move permanent.

Venezia

On 3 February 2025, Radu joined Serie A club

on a five-month contract. Since debuting on 9 February after first-choice Filip Stanković's season ending injury, he kept four clean sheets and won three consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

Celta Vigo

On 9 June 2025,

club

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was foun ...

announced the signing of Radu on a contract for the next four seasons.

International career

Radu is a former Romania youth international at under-21 level, featuring for the side in the 2019 UEFA European Championship qualifiers. He made his debut on 13 June 2017, in a 2–0 away win over

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. Radu captained both of the group matches in September 2018, saving a penalty to preserve a win against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and keeping a clean sheet in a victory over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. The following month, ''Tricolorii mici'' finished on top of the group and qualified for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. In May 2019, Radu was called up 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 ...

senior squad for the approaching UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, but was not handed his full debut. In June, he started in all three group fixtures of the UEFA Under-21 Euro in Italy, keeping a clean sheet in a draw against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

which secured the first place for his nation. Romania were eventually eliminated by defending champions

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 ...

in the

semi-finals 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, ...

, after a 4–2 loss.

Personal life

Radu had an elder sister, who died in 2006 at age 14; he used to wear a t-shirt with a picture of her under the kit during the time he was a junior. He is the cousin of defender Andrei Radu, with whom he shares the same name.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Inter Milan *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

: 2021–22 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Individual *''

: 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Radu, Andrei 1997 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Serie A players Serie B players Ligue 1 players Inter Milan players US Avellino 1912 players Genoa CFC players Parma Calcio 1913 players US Cremonese players AJ Auxerre players AFC Bournemouth players Venezia FC players RC Celta de Vigo players Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Premier League players 21st-century Romanian sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England