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Nicușor Bancu
	Bancu with Romania in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Nicușor Silviu Bancu
Date of birth	18 September 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Crâmpoia, Romania
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Left-back, midfielder
Team information
Current team	Universitatea Craiova
Number	11
Youth career
0000–2010	Rapid Piatra-Olt
2010–2011	Olt Piatra-Olt
Senior career*
Years	Team
2011–2014	Olt Slatina
2014–	Universitatea Craiova
International career‡
2017–	Romania
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 December 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024

Nicușor Silviu Bancu (Romanian pronunciation: [nikuˈʃor ˈsilvju ˈbaŋku]; born 18 September 1992) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a left-back or a midfielder for Liga I club Universitatea Craiova, which he captains, and the Romania national team.

Club career

Bancu recorded his competitive debut for CS Universitatea Craiova on 16 July 2014, a 0–1 Cupa Ligii loss to Rapid București. His first Liga I match came nine days later in a 1–1 home draw with Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

He scored his first goal for the Alb-albaștrii on 9 September that year, in a 2–0 defeat of Universitatea Cluj. 29 October, Bancu was injured by Viitorul Constanța player Alin Șeroni in a Cupa României Round of 16 game, which ended 1–1 after 90 minutes. He suffered a broken tibia and was sidelined for around half a year.^[2]

Bancu made 34 appearances in all competitions in the following season, as his team finished on the eighth place in the domestic league.

In 2019, it was announced that Lazio are keen on bringing Craiova captain Bancu to Stadio Olimpico. They have been monitoring his progress over the past few seasons. Former Biancocelesti captain, Cristiano Bergodi, likened Bancu to Senad Lulić.^[3] Earlier, in 2016, Universitatea Craiova rejected an offer from PSV Eindhoven for Bancu.^[4]

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 December 2024^[5]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Olt Slatina	2011–12	Liga II	15	1	0	0	—		—		—		15	1
	2012–13		23	3	0	0	—		—		—		23	3
	2013–14		30	4	1	0	—		—		—		31	4
	Total		68	8	1	0	—		—		—		69	8
Universitatea Craiova	2014–15	Liga I	13	1	2	0	1	0	—		—		16	1
	2015–16		32	3	1	0	1	0	—		—		34	3
	2016–17		35	3	4	0	1	0	—		—		40	3
	2017–18		34	3	4	1	—		2	0	—		40	4
	2018–19		33	4	5	2	—		2	0	1	0	41	6
	2019–20		31	4	3	0	—		6	1	—		13	1
	2020–21		35	2	5	0	—		1	0	—		41	2
	2021–22		35	2	3	0	—		2	0	0	0	40	2
	2022–23		13	0	0	0	—		6	1	—		19	1
	2023–24		36	2	2	0	—		—		1	0	39	2
	2024–25		18	1	2	0	—		2	0	—		22	1
	Total		315	25	31	3	3	0	21	2	2	0	372	30
Career total			383	33	32	3	3	0	21	2	2	0	441	38

International

As of 18 November 2024^[6]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Romania	2017	1	0
	2018	6	0
	2019	6	0
	2020	4	0
	2021	5	1
	2022	6	1
	2023	6	0
	2024	10	0
Total		44	2

As of 11 June 2022.

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bancu goal.^[6]

List of international goals scored by Nicușor Bancu
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 November 2021	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	22	Liechtenstein	2–0	2–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	11 June 2022	Stadionul Rapid-Giulești, Bucharest, Romania	25	Finland	1–0	1–0	UEFA Nations League B