Claudiu Niculescu

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

Club career
Claudiu Niculescu was born in Slatina and started playing football at the youth club CSȘ Slatina, alongside Ionel Dănciulescu, Ionuț Luțu and Augustin Chiriță, being coached by Ion Pârvulescu. He started his senior career playing at Jiul IELIF Craiova in Divizia B, after which he played for one season at Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Divizia C, returning for the following one season and a half to play in Divizia B at Electroputere Craiova. Niculescu made his Divizia A debut on 1 March 1998, playing for Universitatea Craiova under Spanish coach José Ramón Alexanko in a 2–1 victory against Petrolul Ploiești in which he scored one goal. He spent three years and a half with The Blue Lions, scoring 41 goals in 93 Divizia A matches, appearing in two games without scoring from the 2000–01 UEFA Cup, also reaching two Cupa României finals.

In 2001 he went to play for Dinamo București where in his first season he won the Divizia A title, being the second top-goalscorer of the league with 15 goals, as coaches Cornel Dinu and Marin Ion gave him 28 appearances. In 2002, shortly after scoring a spectacular goal from a free kick against goalkeeper Iker Casillas in a friendly which ended with a 5–2 loss against 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 only one year with The Griffin, being teammate with compatriots Adrian Mihalcea and Paul Codrea, making only 13 appearances in which he scored three goals as his stay there was affected by injuries, returning to Dinamo who agreed to pay the Genovese team €800.000 to get him back. In the first season, following his return to The Red Dogs, he helped them win The Double, contributing with 16 goals scored in the 28 league matches in which he was used by coach Ioan Andone, also scoring the second goal of the 2–0 victory in front of Oțelul Galați from the Cupa României final and giving his contribution to the elimination of Shakhtar Donetsk by scoring a goal in each leg of the 5–2 victory on aggregate from the UEFA Cup. On 21 November 2004, Niculescu was in the center of a controversy when during an away game with his former team, Universitatea Craiova, a fan entered the field and threw a "U" Craiova scarf in his face, after which he screamed:"You are a stinking traitor!", shortly after, his teammate Adrian Mihalcea tackled the fan to the ground. In the 2004–05 season he scored 21 goals, including all the goals in a 4–0 with CFR Cluj, sharing with Gheorghe Bucur the top-goalscorer of Divizia A title, forming a couple in Dinamo's offence with Ionel Dănciulescu, the Romanian press calling them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired from the first letters of their family name 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 team earn for the first time in its history the Supercupa României, also Andone used him in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when the team eliminated Everton against whom he scored a goal in a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage where he defeated goalkeeper Fabien Barthez by scoring a goal from a 20 meters free kick in a 2–1 away loss in front of Olympique Marseille. In the 2006–07 season under the guidance of coach Mircea Rednic, Niculescu won another championship title with Dinamo and became the top-goalscorer of the league with 18 goals, four of these were scored in a 4–1 against rivals Rapid București and two in a 4–2 victory in a derby against Steaua București. With eight goals scored in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, of which four were in the group stage against Beşiktaş, Club Brugge and a double in the 2–1 victory in front of Bayer Leverkusen for which he received a 10 in the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper, Niculescu was the second best goal-scorer of the competition, having three less than Espanyol's Walter Pandiani, helping The Red Dogs reach the sixteenths-finals where they were eliminated by Benfica. In the following season, Dinamo had the objective of reaching the Champions League group stage, Niculescu playing in both legs of the third qualifying round against Lazio Roma, which however was lost with 4–2 on aggregate.

In January 2008, Niculescu was transferred by Dinamo at MSV Duisburg for 700.000€, where he was wanted by coach Rudi Bommer, being teammate with fellow Romanians Mihai Tararache and Iulian Filipescu, playing 15 Bundesliga matches in which he scored four goals against VfL Wolfsburg, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt but at the end of the season he was transferred in Cyprus at Omonia for 200.000€. In 2009 he returned for a third spell at Dinamo which lasted one year and a half, a period in which he helped the club fulfill "The wonder from Liberec" after winning with 3–0 the away game against Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009–10 Europa League. In the summer of 2010 he went to play for Universitatea Cluj, the highlights of this period being a brace in a 4–3 victory over his former team, Dinamo, then another goal against them in a 2–1 win, also he scored a goal directly from a corner kick in a 1–1 with Astra Ploiești. He made his last Liga I appearance on 12 March 2012, playing for "U" Cluj in a 1–0 home loss in front of Steaua. Claudiu Niculescu was a striker skilled in free kicks, being nicknamed "Lunetistul" (The Sniper) by the Romanian press and he is 11th in an all-time ranking for the goalscorers in Liga I with 156 goals scored in 326 matches played, also with 43 games and 18 goals scored for Dinamo in European matches, he is the player with the most appearances and top scorer in European competitions for the club.

International career
Claudiu Niculescu played 8 games at international level for Romania, making his debut when coach László Bölöni sent him on the field in order to replace Marius Niculae in the 81st minute of a friendly which ended with a 2–1 victory against FR Yugoslavia. He also played two games at the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and one at the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Niculescu's last appearance for the national team took place on 22 August 2007 in a 2–0 home win in a friendly with Turkey.

Coaching career
His first experience as a coach was in November 2010 for two matches at Universitatea Cluj, where he was at the same time an active player. His second experience as a coach started in March 2012 which was also at Universitatea Cluj and also being in the same time an active player. In 15 games under his command, the club won four games, draw in six and lost five. Niculescu resigned after the first game of the 2012–13 season, a loss 6–2 at Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

On 25 September 2012, Niculescu was installed as the head coach of Liga II team Bihor Oradea with an objective to help the team promote to the first division. In December, Niculescu ended his contract, after only eight games (two wins, three draws and three losses).

In January 2013, Niculescu took over Damila Măciuca, in Liga II.

September 2018, Niculescu was appointed coach of Dinamo București, following the dismissal of Florin Bratu. He signed a contract until 2020.

On 7 January 2021, Niculescu signed a contract with Liga II side Concordia Chiajna.

Managerial statistics

 * Updated as of 11 May 2024

Personal life
Claudiu Niculescu's brothers Mihai and Dragoș and his cousin Ovidiu were footballers in the Romanian lower leagues. His father Marin was a football coach in the Romanian lower leagues. In 1998 he married Lidia and they had together two kids, Alexandru and Rebecca. They divorced in 2006. In June 2007, he married Diana Munteanu who was a TV host, their wedding was considered the wedding of the year by the Romanian press. Together they had a son named David Cristian. Claudiu and Diana divorced in 2014.

Player
Universitatea Craiova Dinamo București
 * Cupa României runner-up: 1997–98, 1999–2000
 * 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

Coach
Voluntari
 * Cupa României: 2016–17
 * Supercupa României: 2017