Gabriel Iancu

Gabriel Cristian Iancu (Romanian pronunciation: [gabriˈel kristiˈan ˈjaŋku]; born 15 April 1994) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a forward or an attacking midfielder for Russian Premier League club Akhmat Grozny and the Romania national team.

Gabriel Iancu
Iancu with Akhmat Grozny in 2021
Personal information
Full name Gabriel Cristian Iancu
Date of birth (1994-04-15) 15 April 1994
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward, attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Akhmat Grozny
Number 9
Youth career
2001–2006 Steaua București
2006–2009 CSȘ Pajura
2009 Concordia Chiajna
2009–2011 Gheorghe Hagi Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Viitorul Constanța 30 (11)
2013–2016 Steaua București 54 (8)
2015–2016 → Karabükspor (loan) 4 (1)
2016–2017 Viitorul Constanța 24 (5)
2017–2018 Termalica Nieciecza 14 (2)
2018–2019 Voluntari 1 (0)
2019 Dunărea Călărași 12 (2)
2019–2021 Viitorul Constanța 37 (22)
2021– Akhmat Grozny 12 (1)
National team‡
2010–2011 Romania U17 4 (2)
2012 Romania U19 3 (0)
2012–2014 Romania U21 10 (2)
2020– Romania 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 November 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2020

Iancu began his senior career at Viitorul Constanța in 2011, and at age 18 returned to Steaua București where he was previously a junior. He won six trophies with the latter, but has since had multiple brief spells since leaving the capital in 2015. On his second stint at Viitorul, Iancu aided to a league title in the 2016–17 season, and on his third netted 18 times to become the top scorer of the 2019–20 Liga I. He has competed professionally in three countries apart from his own, namely Turkey, Poland and Russia.

Internationally, Iancu represented the Romania national team at several youth levels including the under-21 side, before going on to record his debut for the seniors in 2020.

Club career

Iancu made his senior debut for Viitorul Constanța on 1 September 2011, in a 2–0 Liga II home win over Callatis Mangalia. In March 2012, he and his Viitorul teammate Bogdan Țîru were on trial at Ajax,[2] and he was also linked with a move to Galatasaray.[3] Iancu's first goal also came in a match against Callatis Mangalia, scoring the last of his team in a 5–1 away thrashing on 21 April 2012. By the end of the season which ended in promotion to the Liga I, he totalled five goals in twelve appearances.

Iancu continued his goalscoring run by netting six times from 18 games in the first half of the 2012–13 Liga I, which inspired a move to his former boyhood club FC Steaua București in the winter transfer window. The eventual champions acquired 70% of his economic rights for an undisclosed fee,[4][5] and his five-year contract included a €25 million buyout clause.[6] On 30 July 2013, Iancu scored the goals of a 2–0 away victory over Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi, facilitating Steaua progress to the UEFA Champions League play-off round.[7] He played two matches in the group stage of the latter competition, as Steaua finished last behind Chelsea, Schalke 04 and Basel, respectively.

Iancu began to appear less frequently for the Bucharest-based club and in the 2015–16 campaign was sent out on loan to Karabükspor in Turkey, where he only scored once in four games. In the summer of 2016, he rejoined Viitorul Constanța as a free agent. On 13 May 2017, he converted a penalty in a 1–0 defeat of CFR Cluj, which earned Viitorul its first national title.[8] In September 2017, Iancu joined Polish Ekstraklasa club Termalica Nieciecza on a two-year deal,[9] and two weeks later made his league debut by coming on as a substitute and scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory against Lechia Gdańsk.[10]

After two brief spells back in Romania with Voluntari and Dunărea Călărași during the 2018–19 season, Iancu was again re-signed by Viitorul Constanța in June 2019. He managed to become top scorer of the 2019–20 Liga I by netting 18 goals from 28 appearances, and his exploits earned him a transfer to Russian Premier League club Akhmat Grozny. He signed a three-and-a-half-year contract on 13 January 2021.[11]

Career statistics

Club
As of 27 November 2021[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other[lower-alpha 1] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Viitorul Constanța 2011–12 Liga II 12500— — — 125
2012–13 Liga I 18600— — — 186
Total 301100———3011
Steaua București 2012–13 Liga I 10200— 00— 102
2013–14 Liga I 19220— 8[lower-alpha 2]210304
2014–15 Liga I 20334216[lower-alpha 3]110329
2015–16 Liga I 5100003[lower-alpha 4]01091
Total 5485421173308116
Karabükspor (loan) 2015–16 TFF Second League 4131— — — 72
Viitorul Constanța 2016–17 Liga I 24511002[lower-alpha 5]000276
Termalica Nieciecza 2017–18 Ekstraklasa 14200— — — 142
Voluntari 2018–19 Liga I 1000— — — 10
Dunărea Călărași 2018–19 Liga I 12210— — — 132
Viitorul Constanța 2019–20 Liga I 281810— 2[lower-alpha 5]2103220
2020–21 Liga I 9400— 000094
Total 372210—22104124
Akhmat Grozny 2020–21 Russian Premier League 601000000070
2021–22 Russian Premier League 611100000072
Total 12121000000142
Career total 18852137212154022865
  1. All appearances in Supercupa României
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of 14 October 2020[13]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania
202040
Total40

Honours

Steaua București[12]

Viitorul Constanța[12]

Individual

References
  1. Gabriel Iancu at Russian Premier League
  2. "Roemeense talenten op stage bij Ajax". telegraaf.nl (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 23 March 2012.
  3. "Hagi'den G.Saray'a hediye futbolcu". milliyett.ro (in Turkish). Milliyet. 14 September 2012.
  4. "Gabriel Iancu a fost prezentat oficial la Steaua" (in Romanian). Digi24. 23 December 2012.
  5. "Noua achizitie a Stelei ii umple de bani pe constanteni! Gabriel Iancu ar putea aduce 1,5 milioane euro in contul Viitorului" (in Romanian). Sport Total. 14 December 2012.
  6. "Steaua i-a stabilit o clauză de reziliere uriașă lui Gabriel Iancu" (in Romanian). B1 TV. 11 December 2012.
  7. "Steaua e la un pas de play-off, după 2-0 cu Dinamo" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 30 July 2013.
  8. "Viitorul - CFR 1–0" (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  9. "Gabriel Iancu zawodnikiem Bruk-Betu Termaliki". termalica.brukbet.com (in Polish). Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  10. "Ekstraklasa: Bruk-Bet Termalica 2–1 Lechia Gdańsk". sport.interia.pl (in Polish). 23 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  11. "Габриэль Янку перешёл в "Ахмат"" (in Russian). FC Akhmat Grozny. 13 January 2021.
  12. Gabriel Iancu at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  13. "Gabriel Iancu". European Football. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
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