Gheorghe Grozav

Gheorghe "Gicu" Teodor Grozav (born 29 September 1990) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for Liga I club Petrolul Ploiești.

Grozav started his senior career at his hometown club Unirea Alba Iulia in 2007. At the start of 2010, he moved abroad for the first time to Belgian side Standard Liège. Following a loan to Universitatea Cluj in the 2011–12 season, Grozav returned to Romania again at Petrolul Ploiești, with which he won a Cupa României trophy. His performances prompted another transfer abroad to Russian club Terek Grozny in the summer of 2013, spending several seasons there before moving frequently between teams in Romania, Turkey, and Hungary.

At international level, Grozav made his full debut for Romania in May 2012, scoring the only goal of a friendly win over Switzerland. He has since totalled over 30 matches for his country.

Unirea Alba Iulia
Grozav started his career at his hometown club Unirea Alba Iulia, playing his first match in the 2007–08 Liga II season. In the summer of 2009, after two years in the Romanian Liga II, Grozav wanted to score a move away at Standard Liège as a free agent. He was later forced by UEFA to sign for another three years with the club for which he was a junior.

On 1 September 2009, Gicu Grozav made his Liga I debut in a 1–0 defeat against FC Brașov.

Standard Liège
László Bölöni eventually brought Grozav to Belgium in January 2010, signing for Standard Liège for an undisclosed fee, whilst Unirea Alba Iulia retained 15% of the players rights. He got limited playing time in his first two years with the team, only making 15 league appearances.

For the 2011–12 season Grozav was transferred to Liga I team Universitatea Cluj on a one-year loan move. He refound his form here as he helped his team to an eighth-place finish.

Petrolul Ploiești
In the summer of 2012 Gicu Grozav signed a three-year contract with Petrolul Ploiești after a number of his teammates also signed with the Yellow Wolves. On 8 August 2013, he scored the decisive goal against Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem in the 95th minute to make sure Petrolul Ploiești progressed to the Europa League last preliminary round for the first time in the club's history. On 25 August 2013, Grozav scored a consolation goal with an overhead kick against Swansea City in the play-off.

Terek Grozny
On 28 August 2013 he joined the Russian Premier League side Terek Grozny for a rumoured fee of €2.1 million.

On 2 February 2015, Grozav once again returned to Romania, signing for Dinamo București on loan.

Turkey
On 27 July 2017, Grozav joined Turkish Süper Lig side Kardemir Karabükspor on a three-year contract. On 19 August, he scored on his league debut for the club in a 3–1 home win over İstanbul Başakşehir.

Grozav was signed by Bursaspor on a six-month contract with the option of another two years on 17 January 2018.

Return to Dinamo București
On 2 October 2018, Grozav re-signed for Dinamo București. He was released from his contract on 2 November.

Hungary
On 16 January 2019, Grozav signed for Kisvárda. On 31 March 2020, Kisvárda terminated Grozav's contract when he and teammate Iasmin Latovlevici left for Romania without permission during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Return to Petrolul Ploiești
On 14 June 2022, Petrolul Ploiești announced that Grozav would be returning to the club and commence training the following day.

International career
Grozav made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Switzerland on 30 May 2012, where he scored the winning goal. This was the first-ever goal scored for the full side by a player born after the Romanian Revolution. On 12 October 2012, Grozav netted the only goal of a 1–0 victory over Turkey at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

Personal life
Grozav's uncle, Cornel Țălnar, also played football for Dinamo București, Petrolul Ploiești and Unirea Alba Iulia. In May 2022, he married handballer Sorina Tîrcă.

International goals

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

Honours
Unirea Alba Iulia
 * Liga II: 2008–09

Standard Liège
 * Belgian Cup: 2010–11

Petrolul Ploiești
 * Cupa României: 2012–13
 * Supercupa României runner-up: 2013