New York City FC Monday announced that Alexandru Mitriță has joined the club as a Designated Player on a transfer from Romanian Liga I club Universitatea Craiova.
His signing is pending the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and visa.
The 23-year-old Romanian international, who can play as an attacking midfielder, winger or forward, is the club’s third designated player and has signed a multi-year contract. He has traveled to Abu Dhabi for preseason training.
Mitriță joined Maxi Moralez and Jesus Medina as City’s DPs.
He also was the club’s seventh offseason addition, following Tony Rocha, Keaton Parks, Ebenezer Ofori, Justin Haak, Juan Pablo Torres and Luis Barraza.
“I’m very happy to be a part of this team and I’m looking forward to getting started,” Mitriță said. “It is a great joy for me and I will do my best to play at a high level. I want to make everyone who believes in me proud that we were able achieve this transfer.
“I know this is a good group and I’m going to a club where young players can develop and grow. The team has a very good coach who has experience with lots of great clubs in Europe.
“MLS is a very strong league, otherwise I would not have come here. I don’t want to say too much now in terms of goals and objectives—I prefer to see how things progress. I want to take things step-by-step and give my all in every match and we will see what we can achieve together.”
Mitriță made his debut for Viitorul Constanța in the 2012-2013 season and more over 50 appearances.
His performance in Liga I caught the attention of Italian Serie B outfit Pescara, which Mitriță helped lead to promotion in 2016. During his two-year stay, Mitriță played in a combined 34 games in Serie A and Serie B, scoring twice.
“We’re very happy to have signed Alexandru because it was one of our main objectives in the offseason,” NYCFC head coach Domenec Torrent said. “He’s a dynamic and versatile attacking option who can play in many systems.
“Alexandru has had a great year in Romania where he’s scored lots of goals and has been very dangerous in the attacking play and in 1 v 1 situations. He’s a player with plenty of experience in Europe, having played at the highest level in both Romania and Italy. I know he’ll be able to come to New York and be a key leader in our attacking front.”
Mitriță returned to Romania before the 2017-18 season, signing with Universitatea Craiova, where he enjoyed an superb debut season, scoring 16 goals and addingfour assists in 38 games across all competitions.
That form earned him a first call-up to the Romanian national team, going unbeaten through his first six caps following his debut in March 2018.
“Alexandru is a very talented attacking threat who can score goals and create chances when running at the opposing team,” NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna said. “At almost 24, he’s part of an exciting younger generation coming out of Romania.
“He comes to New York during a stage in his career where he’s extremely motivated to make the next step after recently breaking into the Romanian national team. He possesses an innate desire to win and is focused on becoming an important player for our club as we challenge for the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup.
“He was an important player at his previous club and very well-liked by an amazing and loyal fan base. Our fans will immediately notice the personality he carries on the field and they’ll really enjoy watching him play for NYCFC.”
