Laurențiu Constantin Brănescu (born 30 March 1994) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga II club Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Laurențiu Constantin Brănescu | ||
| Date of birth | 30 March 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2004 | FC Teleșpan 97 | ||
| 2004–2009 | CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea | ||
| 2011–2012 | Juventus | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2010 | CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea | 6 | (0) |
| 2012–2020 | Juventus | 0 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | → Juve Stabia (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | → Virtus Lanciano (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2015 | → Haladás (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | → Omonia (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | → Dinamo București (loan) | 20 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | → Gorica (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2019 | → Žalgiris (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | → Kilmarnock (loan) | 26 | (0) |
| 2021 | Politehnica Iași | 18 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Farul Constanța | 0 | (0) |
| 2022 | Universitatea Cluj | 3 | (0) |
| 2023 | Atromitos | 1 | (0) |
| 2024– | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | 12 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2007–2008 | Romania U15 | 10 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Romania U17 | 12 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Romania U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2013–2016 | Romania U21 | 12 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 November 2024 | |||
Club career
editRâmnicu Vâlcea
editBorn in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania, Brănescu began his career with the youth academy of local side CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea in 2000. He remained within the club's youth sector until January 2011, when he caught the attention of Serie A side, Juventus Football Club. Brănescu originally was scouted by the Turin-based club during the summer of 2010, but did not officially complete his transfer to Italy until 24 January 2011. Prior to his transfer, the then 16-year-old made his debut for his hometown club on 28 August 2010 in a 2–0 away loss to CS Turnu Severin. He made two additional appearances for the club in the Romanian Liga II, which included a clean-sheet for the player on 20 November 2010 in a 1–0 win over ALRO Slatina.[1]
Juventus
editOn 24 January 2011, Brănescu officially transferred from Râmnicu Vâlcea to Juventus[2] Upon joining the Turin-based club, Brănescu was instantaneously inserted into the club's youth sector, where he quickly established himself as the club's first choice goalkeeper. Along with his regularity in the youth academy, Brănescu also served as Juventus' fourth choice goalkeeper for the 2012-13 Serie A campaign, behind Gianluigi Buffon, Marco Storari and Rubinho, earning 6 first team call-ups during league play, and also was a part of the club's 2012–13 UEFA Champions League roster.
Juve Stabia loan
editOn 2 July 2013, it was confirmed that Juventus had officially loaned the young goalkeeper to Serie B outfit S.S. Juve Stabia on a season-long loan deal[3] with an option to prolong his tenure with the club for a further season.[4] He made his professional debut for S.S. Juve Stabia at 11 August 2013 in the second round of the Coppa Italia against A.S. Gubbio 1910.
Virtus Lanciano loan
editOn 30 January 2014 Brănescu was swapped with Mame Baba Thiam of Virtus Lanciano in co-ownership deals[5] (plus €250,000 cash to Juventus). On 19 June 2014 the deals were renewed.[6]
On 20 January 2015 Brănescu returned to Juventus for €1.2 million (a player swap, with De Silvestro moving in the opposite direction for €1.2 million);[7]
Other loans
editBrănescu was immediately left for Szombathelyi Haladás[8] on a temporary transfer.[9] On 27 June 2015 Juventus accepted a loan offer for him from the Cypriot club Omonia.[10]
In 2018 mid-year transfer window, Brănescu left for Croatian club HNK Gorica on a temporary deal.[11] On 12 February 2019, he joined Lithuanian club Žalgiris on loan.[12]
On 8 July 2019, he joined Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock on a season long loan.[13] He said he had learned a lot from Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and wanted to use that to become Kilmarnock's first-choice goalkeeper.[14]
Brănescu was released by Juventus in the summer of 2020.
International career
editBrănescu has represented Romania at the U-17, U19, and U-21 levels for a total of 27 caps.
Honours
editClub
edit- Juventus
- Omonia
- Cypriot Cup runner-up: 2015–16
- Dinamo București
- Žalgiris
- Lithuanian Supercup runner-up: 2019
References
edit- ^ "Romania - L. Brănescu - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
- ^ "UFFICIALE: Juventus, depositato il contratto di Branescu - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
- ^ "UFFICIALE: Juventus, Branescu passa alla Juve Stabia - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
- ^ "Juventus News: Latest news & highlights".
- ^ "Mercato: scambio di comproprietà Thiam-Branescu: Accordo raggiunto tra la Virtus e la Juventus" (in Italian). SS Virtus Lanciano 1924. 30 January 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Rinnovate le comproprietà di Branescu, Nunzella e Thiam: Riscattato Bei dal Foligno" (in Italian). SS Virtus Lanciano 1924. 19 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Relazione finanziaria annuale al 30 giugno 2015" (PDF) (in Italian). Juventus F.C. 1 October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF (1.24MB)) on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ "Branescu, Alcibiade, Martínez és Mancini a Haladásban" (in Hungarian). Szombathelyi Haladás. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "A rundown of the Bianconeri's winter transfer window". Juventus FC. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- ^ "AC Omonoia Nicosia Official Website - Επίσημη ιστοσελίδα Αθλητικός Σύλλογος ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ Λευκωσίας". Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ "Here is the full list of all of Juventus' market movements in the summer transfer window" (Press release). Turin: Juventus F.C. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ ""ŽALGIRIO" VARTUS SAUGOS "JUVENTUS" PRIKLAUSANTIS L. BRANESCU" (in Lithuanian). Žalgiris. 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Laurentiu Branescu: Juventus goalkeeper joins Kilmarnock on loan". BBC Sport. 8 July 2019.
- ^ "Laurentiu Branescu: Kilmarnock keeper 'learned a lot' from Buffon". BBC Sport. 9 July 2019.
External links
edit- Laurențiu Brănescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
- Laurențiu Brănescu at Soccerway
- Profile at UEFA