Andrei Burcă

Andrei Andonie Burcă (born 15 April 1993) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for UAE Pro League club Baniyas and the Romania national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also be deployed as a right-back.

Burcă began his career in the lower divisions with his hometown clubs Aerostar Bacău and SC Bacău, before signing for top flight team Botoșani in 2016. Three years later, his good display earned him a transfer to defending champions CFR Cluj. He aided to four domestic trophies during his spell in Cluj-Napoca, and in 2023 moved abroad to Saudi club Al-Okhdood.

Burcă made his full international debut for Romania in September 2019, starting in a 3–2 UEFA Nations League victory over Austria. He represented the country in the Euro 2024.

Early career / Botoșani
Burcă started his senior career with hometown club Aerostar Bacău, and then moved to neighbouring SC Bacău in 2013. He made his debut in the second tier of the Romanian league system on 14 September that year, in a 0–2 loss to CSM Studențesc Iași.

Following the conclusion of the 2015–16 season, his team withdrew from the championship because of financial issues; Burcă hence contemplated about retiring from football and starting college. He however received contract proposals from Foresta Suceava and Botoșani, and after signing with the latter he went on to amass over one hundred matches in the Liga I between 2016 and 2019.

CFR Cluj
On 10 June 2019, Burcă joined reigning champions CFR Cluj for an undisclosed transfer fee. With "the Railwaymen", he was a starter in all eight matches in the 2019–20 edition of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, as his team was eliminated in the play-off round by Slavia Prague. He also played in all eight Europa League games, scoring once in a 2–0 home victory over Scottish club Celtic on 12 December.

On 3 August 2020, Burcă won his first career trophy after a 3–1 success against Universitatea Craiova in the final Liga I fixture. On 15 April 2021, he started in the 4–1 penalty shoot-out defeat of FCSB in the Supercupa României.

Late career
On 17 July 2023, Burcă signed a one-year contract with Al-Okhdood, newly promoted to the Saudi Pro League. The media reported the transfer fee as being worth €1 million. On 10 July 2024, Burcă joined UAE Pro League club Baniyas.

International career
On 7 September 2020, Burcă recorded his debut for the Romania national team by playing the full 90 minutes as a right-back in a 3–2 UEFA Nations League away win over Austria.

Burcă scored his first international goal on 28 March 2023, in a 2–1 home victory over Belarus in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. He started in all ten matches of the competition, as Romania qualified to the final tournament from the first place in Group I.

On 7 June 2024, Burcă was named in Romania's squad for the Euro 2024. He started in all four matches of the tournament, forming a defensive partnership with Radu Drăgușin, as the nation won its group but was eliminated by the Netherlands in the round of 16.

International

 * Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Burcă goal.

Honours
CFR Cluj
 * Liga I: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
 * Supercupa României: 2020; runner-up: 2019, 2021, 2022

Individual
 * Liga I Team of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22