Claudiu Niculescu

Claudiu Iulian Niculescu (born 23 June 1976) is a Romanian professional football coach and former striker.

Club career

"Claudiu is one of the strikers with the highest qualities I have ever met." — José Ramón Alexanko, former Universitatea Craiova manager He began playing junior-level football in his hometown at CSȘ Slatina, alongside Ionel Dănciulescu, Ionuț Luțu and Augustin Chiriță, being coached by Ion Pârvulescu. He started his senior career in 1994, playing for Jiul IELIF Craiova in Divizia B. Subsequently, he played for one season at Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Divizia C, returning for the following one and a half seasons to play in Divizia B for Electroputere Craiova. He spent three and a half years with The Blue Lions, scoring 41 goals in 93 league matches. He also appeared in both legs of "U" Craiova's 2–1 aggregate loss to Pobeda in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup qualifying round.

Dinamo București and Genoa In 2001, Niculescu went to play for Dinamo București where in his first season he won the Divizia A title, being the second top-scorer of the league with 15 goals, as coaches Cornel Dinu and Marin Ion gave him 28 appearances. In 2002, shortly after beating goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a spectacular 30-meter shot in a 5–2 friendly loss to Real Madrid, Niculescu was transferred to Genoa in Serie B for a fee estimated by the Romanian press between €700,000 and €1 million. He spent one year with The Griffin alongside compatriots Adrian Mihalcea and Paul Codrea, but injuries limited him to just 13 appearances and three goals. He returned to Dinamo who agreed to pay the Genovese team €800,000 to get him back.

Second spell at Dinamo In the first season, following his return to The Red Dogs, Niculescu helped them win The Double, contributing with 16 goals in 28 league matches under coach Ioan Andone and netted the second goal of the 2–0 win over Oțelul Galați in the Cupa României final. In the same season, he gave his contribution to the elimination of Shakhtar Donetsk by scoring a goal in each leg of the 5–2 victory on aggregate in the UEFA Cup. On 21 November 2004, Niculescu was in the center of a controversy when during an away game against his former team, Universitatea Craiova, a fan entered the field, threw a "U" Craiova scarf into Claudiu Niculescu's face, and screamed:"You are a stinking traitor!". Shortly after, his teammate Adrian Mihalcea tackled the fan to the ground. He formed a successful partnership in Dinamo's offence with Ionel Dănciulescu, and the Romanian press called them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired by the first letters of their family names and the Romanian pop band "N&D". Niculescu started the following season by scoring the final goal of the 3–2 victory against rivals Steaua București which helped the club earn its first Supercupa României. Subsequently, he played in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup where they eliminated Omonia against whom he scored a goal, then they got past Everton against whom he also netted a goal in a historical 5–2 aggregate win. The club reached the group stage, where he scored a goal against goalkeeper Fabien Barthez from a 20-meter free kick in a 2–1 away loss to Marseille, as the campaign ended.

In the 2006–07 season under coach Mircea Rednic, Niculescu won another championship title with Dinamo and became the top-scorer of the league with 18 goals, four of which were scored in a 4–1 win over rivals Rapid București and two in a 4–2 derby victory against Steaua. In the first half of that season, Niculescu, Dănciulescu, and Ionel Ganea were part of a rotation system imposed by Rednic, as they were all prolific strikers but only two could start in any given match. Niculescu scored eight goals in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, being the second-highest scorer in the competition, having three fewer goals than Espanyol's Walter Pandiani. Four of these goals came in the group stage against Beşiktaş, Club Brugge, and a double in a 2–1 victory against Bayer Leverkusen that earned him a grade 10 in the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper. His performance helped The Red Dogs reach the round of 32, where they were eliminated by Benfica. In the following season, Dinamo aimed to reach the Champions League group stage, with Niculescu playing in both legs of the third qualifying round against Lazio Roma, which was lost with 4–2 on aggregate.

MSV Duisburg and Omonia In January 2008, Niculescu was transferred from Dinamo to MSV Duisburg for €700,000, where he was wanted by coach Rudi Bommer and became teammates with fellow Romanians Mihai Tararache and Iulian Filipescu. He made his Bundesliga debut on 2 February, providing an assist for Tobias Willi in a 3–3 draw against Borussia Dortmund. He played 15 league matches in which he scored four goals against VfL Wolfsburg, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Dinamo and Universitatea Cluj In 2009 he returned for a third spell at Dinamo which lasted one and a half years. During this period, Niculescu helped the club achieve what was dubbed "The wonder from Liberec" by winning the away game 3–0 against Slovan Liberec to force a penalty shoot-out after losing the first leg by the same score, ultimately qualifying for the 2009–10 Europa League group stage. With 43 games and 18 goals scored for Dinamo in European matches, Niculescu is the player with the most appearances and top scorer in European competitions for the club. The highlights of this period were a brace in a 4–3 victory over his former team, Dinamo, then another goal against them in a 2–1 win, and he also scored a goal directly from a corner kick in a 1–1 draw against Astra Ploiești. He made his last Liga I appearance on 12 March 2012, playing for "U" Cluj in a 1–0 home loss to Steaua, totaling 326 matches with 156 goals in the competition. He also played two games in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and one during the Euro 2008 qualifiers. His second coaching stint was in the same dual-role capacity at "U" Cluj in March 2012. Niculescu resigned on 23 July 2012, after the first game of the 2012–13 season, a 6–2 loss to Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

On 25 September 2012, Niculescu was installed as the head coach of Liga II team Bihor Oradea with the objective of earning promotion to the first division. In December, he ended his contract, after only eight games (two wins, three draws and three losses). From 2013 to 2015, he continued to work for teams in the second league such as Damila Măciuca, CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea and Mioveni. In April 2017, Niculescu was appointed coach of Liga I team Voluntari. He helped them win the 2016–17 Cupa României, by defeating Astra Giurgiu at the penalty shoot-out in the final. Subsequently, he led them to win another trophy, the 2017 Supercupa României, after a 1–0 victory against Viitorul Constanța. He left Voluntari in April 2018. However, on 13 October, he was dismissed and replaced by Mircea Rednic. In the summer of 2019, he took over Saudi second tier club Al-Tai, but left in October, following three consecutive losses. In the following years, Niculescu worked for several clubs in the Romanian second league, including a second spell at Mioveni, then going to Concordia Chiajna, Politehnica Iași, 1599 Șelimbăr, a comeback to Voluntari and coaching his hometown club CSM Slatina.

Niculescu returned to Liga I football in February 2026, signing with Unirea Slobozia. However, after failing to save the team from relegation, he resigned in May 2026.

Personal life Niculescu's father, Marin, was a football coach in the Romanian lower leagues. His brothers Mihai and Dragoș and his cousin Ovidiu were footballers in the Romanian lower leagues. They divorced in 2006. In June 2007, he married Diana Munteanu who was a TV host, and their wedding was considered the wedding of the year by the Romanian press. Together they had a son named David Cristian. He and Diana divorced in 2014.

Niculescu was ranked 83rd in the 2006 nationwide poll of the 100 Greatest Romanians. In 2025, he was named Honorary Citizen of Slatina.

Career statistics Club

International + Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours Player Universitatea Craiova Cupa României runner-up: 1997–98, 1999–2000

Dinamo București Divizia A: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07 Cupa României: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 Supercupa României: 2005

Individual Liga I top scorer: 2004–05 (joint with Gigel Bucur), 2006–07

Manager Voluntari Cupa României: 2016–17 Supercupa României: 2017