Nicolao Dumitru

Nicolao Manuel Dumitru Cardoso (born 12 October 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim. Mainly a left-winger, he can also play as a forward.

Empoli
Dumitru started his professional career at Empoli, in a match during the 2008–09 season in Serie B. He also played another game in the following season, still at Serie B level.

Napoli
On 31 August 2010, he was signed by Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli at age 18 and 11 months. He failed to break into the first team during his period at Napoli, making only nine Serie A appearances at the club. Dumitru also played a few games for the reserve.

Return to Empoli
On 20 July 2011, it was announced Dumitru would return to Empoli in Serie B for the 2011–12 season on a one-year loan basis. On 27 August he scored on his debut, in the first match of the league, against Juve Stabia.

Further Italian loan spells
On 23 July 2012, Dumitru joined Serie B club Ternana on a season-long loan deal until the end of the 2012–13 season. On 31 January 2013 the loan was terminated. Dumitru joined Citadella on a temporary deal the same day. He joined Reggina on loan for the 2013–14 season.

Loan to Veria
On 13 August 2014, Greek club Veria announced the loan signing of Dumitru from Napoli on a one-year deal. He debuted on 24 August 2014 in the season's premiere home match against Skoda Xanthi where he scored his first goal. On 13 September 2014, in a match against Kerkyra, he scored his second goal and was the victim of "derogatory and racist remarks" Horacio Cardozo. The incident was reported by Veria's squad and Cardozo was invited by the Hellenic Football Federation to further give an explanation of the incident that took place. The HFF found Cardozo not guilty due to the lack of strong evidence. Dumitru was twice nominated for the Best Goal award for the goals that he scored on the first matchday as well as on the third, and won the award for his second goal in the championship. He also scored twice on his 2014–15 Greek Cup debut in home 4–1 victory against Ermionida. He got his first assist with Veria against PAS Giannina where Nikos Kaltsas scored. He scored his third championship goal in a home victory against Levadiakos during Superleague's seventh matchday.

Loan to Nottingham Forest
On 30 August 2016, Dumitru joined Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan. On 30 December 2016, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 lost against Newcastle United.

Alcorcón
On 1 August 2017, Dumitru signed a two-year deal with Spanish Segunda División club AD Alcorcón.

Gimnàstic
On 11 January 2018, he moved to fellow league team Gimnàstic de Tarragona.

Livorno
On 5 February 2019, Dumitru signed with Italian club Livorno.

Gaz Metan Mediaș
On 25 July 2019, Dumitru signed a two-year contract with Romanian club Gaz Metan Mediaș.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings
On 14 January 2021, Dumitru signed a contract with Korean club Suwon Bluewings.

UTA Arad
On 17 January 2021, Dumitru moved to Romania to sign with UTA Arad

Bnei Sakhnin
In July 2022, Dumitru successively signed a one-year contract for Israel club, Bnei Sakhnin.

Buriram United
On 8 July 2023, Dumitru moved to Thailand giants, Buriram United.

Johor Darul Ta'zim
On 3 February 2024, Dumitru moved to Malaysia giants, Johor Darul Ta'zim.

International career
Dumitru was eligible to play international football for Sweden by birth, Brazil through his mother, Romania through his father and Italy through residency, his family having migrated there from Sweden when he was a child.

With the Italy U-19 national team in 2010, he took part in the U-19 European Championship. He was also a member of the Italy U-20 national team.

Personal life
Dumitru was born in Nacka, Sweden to a Romanian father (who later took Italian citizenship) and an Afro-Brazilian mother, and successively moved to Empoli, Tuscany in 1998 with his parents. He is fluent in Romanian.