New York City FC today announced that Alexandru Mitriță has joined the Club as a Designated Player on a permanent transfer from Romanian Liga I club Universitatea Craiova pending receipt of ITC/Visa.
The 23-year-old Romanian international, who can play as an attacking midfielder, winger or forward, is the Club’s third designated player and has signed a multi-year contract. He has traveled to Abu Dhabi and is now with the squad for preseason.
“I’m very happy to be a part of this team and I’m looking forward to getting started,” Mitriță said. “It is a great joy for me and I will do my best to play at a high level. I want to make everyone who believes in me proud that we were able achieve this transfer.
“I know this is a good group and I’m going to a Club where young players can develop and grow. The team has a very good coach who has experience with lots of great clubs in Europe.
“MLS is a very strong league, otherwise I would not have come here. I don’t want to say too much now in terms of goals and objectives—I prefer to see how things progress. I want to take things step-by-step and give my all in every match and we will see what we can achieve together.”
Mitriță made his debut for Viitorul Constanța in the 2012/2013 season and made over 50 appearances with the club.
His performance in Liga I caught the attention of Italian Serie B outfit Pescara, who Mitriță helped lead to promotion in 2016 during his first season in Italy. In his two-year stay, Mitriță played in a combined 34 games in Serie A and Serie B, scoring two goals.
New York City FC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna said of the signing: “Alexandru is a very talented attacking threat who can score goals and create chances when running at the opposing team. At almost 24, he’s part of an exciting younger generation coming out of Romania.
“He comes to New York during a stage in his career where he’s extremely motivated to make the next step after recently breaking into the Romanian national team. He possesses an innate desire to win and is focused on becoming an important player for our Club as we challenge for the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup.
“He was an important player at his previous club and very well-liked by an amazing and loyal fan base. Our fans will immediately notice the personality he carries on the field and they’ll really enjoy watching him play for NYCFC.”
Mitriță returned to his native Romania ahead of the 2017/18 season, signing with Universitatea Craiova where he enjoyed an incredible debut season, scoring 16 goals and completing four assists in 38 games across all competitions.
That scintillating form earned Alexandru a first call-up to the Romanian national team where he made an impressive start, going unbeaten through his first six caps following his debut in March 2018.
Torrent said: “We’re very happy to have signed Alexandru because it was one of our main objectives in the offseason. He’s a dynamic and versatile attacking option who can play in many systems.
“Alexandru has had a great year in Romania where he’s scored lots of goals and has been very dangerous in the attacking play and in 1 v 1 situations. He’s a player with plenty of experience in Europe, having played at the highest level in both Romania and Italy. I know he’ll be able to come to New York and be a key leader in our attacking front.”
During the first half of the 2018/19 season, club captain Alexandru has played 16 league games for Craiova, tallying 12 goals and four assists.
Mitriță joins Maxi Moralez and Jesus Medina as City’s third Designated Player. He is the Club’s seventh offseason addition, following Tony Rocha, Keaton Parks, Ebenezer Ofori, Justin Haak, Juan Pablo Torres and Luis Barraza.
Everyone at NYCFC would like to welcome Alexandru to the Club and invite fans to share their welcome messages using the #WelcomeAlexandru hashtag on social media.
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