Nicolae Stanciu

• Full name: Nicolae Claudiu Stanciu
• Date of birth: May 7, 1993
• Place of birth: Craiova, Romania
• Nationality: Romanian
• Position: Attacking midfielder / playmaker
• Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

Club career highlights

• FC Vaslui (senior breakthrough) — Stanciu rose to prominence in Romania with Vaslui, showing his playmaking and set-piece ability.
• Steaua București (FCSB) — Moved to one of Romania’s biggest clubs, where he became a key attacking midfielder and helped the team in domestic competitions and European qualifiers.
• Anderlecht — Signed by R.S.C. Anderlecht (Belgium) in 2016 for a significant transfer fee, where he featured as an attacking midfielder and took set pieces. At Anderlecht he showed creativity, vision and goal contributions, though his time included competition for places and varying form.
• Later clubs — After Anderlecht he played for clubs including Sparta Prague, Al-Ahli (Saudi Arabia), Slavia Prague (return to Czech top level), Wuhan Three Towns (China) and returned to the Romanian league in later stages of his career; exact club sequence and dates depend on the season.

International career

• Romania national team regular from the mid-2010s — Stanciu has been capped multiple times and contributed with goals and assists, often deployed as an attacking midfield option or central creative player.

Playing style

• Creative attacking midfielder with good vision and passing range.
• Effective on set pieces (free kicks and corners) and capable of shooting from distance.
• Technically skilled with close control and ability to link midfield to attack.

Notable facts

• One of Romania’s higher-profile exports in the mid-2010s, his transfer to Anderlecht was a major step in his career.
• Has scored important goals for club and country and is known for his set-piece technique.