Florin Gardoș

Florin Gardoș (; born 29 October 1988) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, currently general manager at Liga II club Chindia Târgoviște.

Early life Gardoș was born in the city of Satu Mare in Romania.

Club career

Gardoș started his senior career with Concordia Chiajna in 2006. In his first season at the club, he helped them achieve promotion to the second division.

Steaua București On 17 June 2010, Gardoș was transferred to Steaua București. He made his competitive debut for the Roș-albaștrii on 16 August, in a Liga I match against Victoria Brănești.

In September 2011, Gardoș received a ten-match ban after seriously tackling Pandurii Târgu Jiu midfielder Cosmin Băcilă, which resulted in a broken left tibia and fibula.

Southampton On 14 August 2014, Gardoș signed a four-year deal with English club Southampton for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around €7.5 million. On 13 September, he made his first appearance for "the Saints" as an 89th-minute substitute for Jack Cork in a 4–0 Premier League victory over Newcastle United. His first start came on 23 September in a 2–1 away defeat of Arsenal in the League Cup.

On 23 July 2015, Southampton manager Ronald Koeman announced that Gardoș would be sidelined for up to seven months after suffering a knee injury in a pre-season friendly with Feyenoord. He finally made his return to the first team in a 5–0 FA Cup loss to Arsenal on 28 January 2017.

Universitatea Craiova On 19 February 2018, the last day of the winter transfer window in Romania, Gardoș joined Universitatea Craiova on loan for the remainder of the campaign. He made his debut on 31 March in a league fixture against CFR Cluj, which finished 0–0. Gardoș played a further three matches in all competitions before suffering a strain on 28 April which effectively ended his season.

As his contract with Southampton was not renewed, he chose to stay in Oltenia, and signed a two-year contract with Universitatea Craiova.

International career Gardoș made his senior debut for Romania in a friendly game against Ukraine, on 8 February 2011.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Concordia Chiajna Liga III: 2006–07

Steaua București Liga I: 2012–13, 2013–14 Cupa României: 2011 Supercupa României: 2013

Southampton EFL Cup runner-up: 2016–17

Universitatea Craiova Cupa României: 2017–18 Supercupa României runner-up: 2018