Bogdan Vătăjelu

Bogdan Ilie Vătăjelu (born 24 April 1993) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Liga I club Sepsi OSK.

Club career

Early career Vătăjelu is a product of the Steaua București youth academy and made his professional debut with the reserves in 2010. Making 25 appearances for the reserves, he joined CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea in 2011 playing there until 2013 in Liga II.

In 2013, he signed for Metalul Reșița where he had a brief spell playing in 14 outings. He was named the captain after playing just two matches.

Universitatea Craiova In January 2014, Vătăjelu penned a three-year deal with CS Universitatea Craiova, who were playing in the second league at that time. He made 14 appearances in the remainder of the season and helped his team achieve promotion to the Liga I.

Vătăjelu was Universitatea's most featured player in the 2014–15 season and in 2016 he eventually gained team captaincy. On 2 October 2016, he scored from action in a 1–2 loss against his former club Steaua București.

Sparta Prague On 27 December 2016, Vătăjelu signed a -year contract with Czech club Sparta Prague for an undisclosed transfer fee, rumoured to be around €1.4 million.

Return to Universitatea Craiova On 26 June 2019, Vătăjelu rejoined Universitatea Craiova by signing a four-year contract.

Universitatea Cluj On 24 June 2023, Universitatea Cluj announced the signing of Bogdan Vătăjelu as a free agent, following his departure from CS Universitatea Craiova.

During the 2023–24 season, Vătăjelu made several appearances for the club. In February 2024, his contract with Universitatea Cluj was terminated by mutual consent.

FC Aktobe Shortly after leaving the club, he signed with FC Aktobe in Kazakhstan, marking his first experience playing outside Romania.

His contract with Aktobe expired at the end of 2025, and the club confirmed that he would not continue with the team for the 2026 season.

International career Between 2011 and 2012, he played for Romania under-19 team on four occasions. On 25 May 2014, while still in the second division, he was called to the senior national team for the friendlies against Algeria and Albania.

International

Honours

Universitatea Craiova Liga II: 2013–14 Cupa României: 2020–21 Supercupa României: 2021

Aktobe Kazakhstan Cup: 2024 Kazakhstan Super Cup runner-up: 2025