Alex Pașcanu
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexandru Ștefan Pașcanu | ||
| Date of birth | 28 September 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Bârlad, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rapid București | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007–2019 | Leicester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2022 | CFR Cluj | 4 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Voluntari (loan) | 19 | (1) |
| 2020–2022 | → Ponferradina (loan) | 53 | (1) |
| 2022–2024 | Ponferradina | 52 | (4) |
| 2023–2024 | → Sporting Gijón (loan) | 26 | (1) |
| 2024– | Rapid București | 17 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016 | Romania U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Romania U19 | 6 | (1) |
| 2017–2021 | Romania U21 | 29 | (1) |
| 2021 | Romania Olympic | 5 | (0) |
| 2024– | Romania | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 December 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024 | |||
Alexandru Ștefan Pașcanu (born 28 September 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liga I club Rapid București and the Romania national team.
Early life
[edit]Pașcanu grew up in Bogdănești, Vaslui County, before moving to England with his family where he spent the rest of his childhood and teenage years.[1]
Club career
[edit]Pașcanu began his football career in the academy of Leicester City, playing alongside the likes of Ben Chilwell, Harvey Barnes and Hamza Choudhury. He was however unable to follow them into the first-team squad, and on 30 August 2019 returned to Romania to sign with reigning champions CFR Cluj for an undisclosed fee.[2]
Pașcanu only amassed five appearances for "the White-Burgundies", before joining fellow Liga I side Voluntari in January 2020 on a loan deal until the end of the season.[3] On 28 August 2020, he was sent out on a two-year loan to Spanish Segunda División side Ponferradina.[4]
On 17 January 2022, Ponferradina announced it had reached an agreement with his parent club for the permanent transfer of Pașcanu.[5] On 12 August 2023, after Ponfe's relegation, he was loaned to Sporting de Gijón also in the second division, for one year.[6]
On 29 July 2024, Pașcanu returned again to his native country, signing a two-year-contract with Rapid București.[7]
International career
[edit]Pașcanu started in all but one of Romania under-21's ten qualifying matches for the 2019 European Championship as the nation won its group undefeated. His performances led to a first call-up to the senior team, on 11 November 2018.[8] In the final stage of the under-21 tournament hosted by Italy and San Marino, Pașcanu aided his side in reaching the semi-finals and thus qualified the country to the 2020 Summer Olympics.
His age also made him eligible for the 2021 edition of the European Championship, where he played in all three group stage matches. Pașcanu scored the winner in a 2–1 defeat of Hungary and surpassed Ionuț Luțu to become the most capped player at under-21 level. In July that year, he went on to participate with Romania in the postponed Summer Olympics.[9]
Pașcanu made his debut for Romania national team on 18 November 2024 in a Nations League game against Cyprus at the Arena Națională. He played a full game in Romania's 4–1 victory.[10]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 16 December 2024[11]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| CFR Cluj | 2019–20 | Liga I | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| Voluntari (loan) | 2019–20 | 19 | 1 | — | — | — | 19 | 1 | ||||
| Ponferradina (loan) | 2020–21 | Segunda División | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2021–22 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 69 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 71 | 3 | ||||
| Ponferradina | 2022–23 | Segunda División | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 2 | ||
| Sporting Gijón (loan) | 2023–24 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Rapid București | 2024–25 | Liga I | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 171 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 10 | ||
International
[edit]- As of match played 18 November 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | |||
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
Honours
[edit]CFR Cluj
Individual
- Leicester City U23 Player of the Season: 2016–17[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Cu Vardy în echipă! Ascensiunea fulminantă a lui Alex Pașcanu, luat de Ranieri la antrenamentele seniorilor campioanei Angliei" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 11 January 2017.
- ^ "Youngster Pascanu joins CFR Cluj". Leicester City F.C. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "BUN VENIT, ALEX PAȘCANU!" (in Romanian). Voluntari. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ "Alexandru Pascanu, nuevo jugador de la SD Ponferradina" [Alexandru Pascanu, new player of SD Ponferradina] (in Spanish). SD Ponferradina. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ "Acuerdo para la adquisición de los derechos de Pascanu" [Agreement for the acquisition of Pascanu's rights] (in Spanish). SD Ponferradina. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ "Acuerdo para la cesión de Alexandru Pascanu al Real Sporting" [Agreement for the loan of Alexandru Pascanu to Real Sporting] (in Spanish). SD Ponferradina. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ "Oficial Alex Pașcanu a semnat cu Rapid! Al șaselea transfer al verii pentru giuleșteni: "Bun venit!"". digisport.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "Lotul României pentru partidele cu Lituania și Muntenegru" [Romania's squad for the fixtures against Lithuania and Montenegro] (in Romanian). Romanian Football Federation. 11 November 2018.
- ^ "Lotul României U23 convocat pentru Jocurile Olimpice de la Tokyo" [Romania U23's squad called up for the Olympic Games in Tokyo]. Romanian Football Federation. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ "Romania v Cyprus game report". ESPN. 18 November 2024.
- ^ Alex Pașcanu at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ "Un roman, jucatorul ANULUI la Leicester! Urias: Alex Pascanu, cel mai bun fotbalist al academiei fostei campioane a Angliei" (in Romanian). Pro X. 16 May 2017.
External links
[edit]- Alexandru Ștefan Paşcanu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
- Alexandru Ștefan Paşcanu at BDFutbol
- Alexandru Paşcanu – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Alexandru Ștefan Pașcanu at the Comitetul Olimpic și Sportiv Român (in Romanian) (archive)
- Alexandru Pascanu at Olympics.com
- Alex Pașcanu at Olympedia (archive)
- 1998 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Bârlad
- Romanian emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Romanian men's footballers
- Men's association football defenders
- Liga I players
- CFR Cluj players
- FC Voluntari players
- Segunda División players
- SD Ponferradina players
- Sporting de Gijón players
- FC Rapid București players
- Romania men's youth international footballers
- Romania men's under-21 international footballers
- Romania men's international footballers
- Olympic footballers for Romania
- Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Romanian expatriate men's footballers
- Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
- Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
- 21st-century Romanian sportsmen