Valentin Mihăilă

Valentin Mihai Mihăilă (born 2 February 2000) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club Parma and the Romania national team.

He began his professional career at Universitatea Craiova in 2017, appearing in over 60 matches in the Liga I before signing for Italian team Parma three years later.

After representing Romania at under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels, Mihăilă recorded his full debut in a 3–2 win over North Macedonia in March 2021. He competed for the country in the UEFA Euro 2024, where they managed to win their group and reach the round of 16.

Universitatea Craiova
Mihăilă made his senior debut for Universitatea Craiova on 24 October 2017, aged 17, in a 2–0 away victory over Sepsi OSK counting for the Cupa României. He did not appear in any other match for the Alb-albaștrii during that season, but on 9 August 2018 started in a 3–1 away defeat to RB Leipzig in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. His debut in the Liga I came in a 1–0 loss on 29 July 2018, also against Sepsi OSK.

Mihăilă began to play frequently and on 19 April 2019 recorded his first league goal—and the only of the match—in an away fixture with Astra Giurgiu, one of his former youth clubs. He amassed 32 matches all competitions comprised in the 2018–19 campaign, and at the end of the year manager Victor Pițurcă confirmed that Craiova rejected a €5 million bid for the youngster from fellow league team FCSB. During his third season in Oltenia, Mihăilă totalled nine goals and came close to claiming the national championship; his side however lost the final game of the competition 3–1 to title contenders and eventual champions CFR Cluj, on 3 August 2020.

Parma
On 5 October 2020, Italian team Parma announced the signing of Mihăilă on a five-year contract, with "the Yellow and Blues" reportedly paying a transfer fee of €8.5 million for the player. This made him the third-most expensive sale of the Romanian league championship at the time, slightly surpassing his former Craiova teammate Alexandru Mitriță on that place. After recovering from athletic pubalgia, Mihăilă finally made his debut for Parma on 3 January 2021 by coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 Serie A loss to Torino.

Mihăilă was a starter for the first time on 21 January, and managed to score the equaliser in an eventual 2–1 defeat to Lazio in the Coppa Italia's round of 16. He registered his first league goal on 7 March, in a 3–3 away draw with Fiorentina in which he also assisted Jasmin Kurtić. The following fixture, compatriot Dennis Man provided the pass from which Mihăilă opened the scoring in a 2–0 defeat of Roma. He ended the league season with three goals from 16 appearances, as the club got relegated to the Serie B.

On 31 January 2022, Mihăilă joined Serie A club Atalanta on a five-month loan with an option to buy. He did not impress during his stint in Bergamo, featuring in only seven matches without scoring as his full transfer clause was not activated. After returning to Parma, Mihăilă netted a free kick in the 2–2 Serie B opening draw with Bari on 12 August.

Youth
Mihăilă attracted significant media attention after contributing to Romania national under-21 team's victory in a UEFA Euro 2021 qualifier against Finland on 14 November 2019, as he scored a hat-trick and provoked an own goal.

Senior
In March 2021, Mihăilă was called up for the first time to the Romania senior team by coach Mirel Rădoi for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against North Macedonia, Germany, and Armenia. On the 25th that month, he replaced injured Florinel Coman in the first half of the former game and netted in the 3–2 win at the Arena Națională in Bucharest.

On 19 June 2023, Mihăilă came on in the second half of a Euro 2024 qualifier against Switzerland and scored a late double to earn his team a 2–2 draw. He was then meant to join up with the under-21 team for the 2023 European Championship, but was ruled out after suffering an injury in the latter game.

Romania secured their spot in the Euro 2024 by finishing first in their group, and on 7 June 2024 Mihăilă was selected as part of the final squad. He made three appearances, only starting in the 0–2 loss to Belgium on 22 June, as his country won its group before being 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 Mihăilă goal.

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

Parma
 * Serie B: 2023–24