Top three Romanians who played in the English Premier League
Since the creation of the English Premier League in 1992, it has been sold as the best league in the world. Fans from all over the world want to watch the Premier League and players want to play in the Premier League because of the global appeal it attracts. One country that has managed to send some of its best national talents is Romania. The Romanians to feature in the Premier League have found success with an FA Cup winner, a Premier League winner and the all time Romanian goalscorer.
When did Romanians first play in the Premier League?
It was not until two years after the formation of the Premier League that the first Romanian player was involved in the Premier League. In fact, like waiting for buses, two players played in the same seven-goal thriller at Hillsborough between Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham Hotspur. Those players were Ilie Dumitrescu for Spurs and Dan Petrescu for Sheffield Wednesday.
It started a revolution and soon afterward Florin Raducioiu joined in 1996 playing for Harry Redknapp’s West Ham United alongside his compatriot Dumitrescu. He was signed following some great performances at the 1994 World Cup in the USA, however, despite scoring an excellent goal against Manchester United, he never settled in England and was soon off.
How many Romanians have featured in the Premier League?
A total of 14 players have featured in the Premier League to this date and many have enjoyed a successful time. Back in 1998, both of Romania’s goal scorers in their Group G victory over England in the World Cup played for Premier League clubs at the time (Viorel Moldovan and Petrescu).
Romnia broke England hearts again two years later at Euro 2000 in a game which Petrescu and Mutu both featured; Mutu hadn’t made the move to the Premiership but Petrescu was with Bradford City.
The teams with the most Romanian players to play for them is a tie between the two London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. The next game for Chelsea at home is against Spurs and Chelsea tickets can be purchased for the game at Ticket-Compare.com
Who are the top three players to play in the Premier League?
- Dan Petrescu (Sheffield Wednesday, Chelsea, Bradford City and Southampton)
He has already been mentioned quite a lot but Petrescu was Mr. Reliable for all three of his teams that he played for in the Premier League. His most successful time came with Chelsea in the pre-Abramovich era. After impressing for Wednesday, he signed for Chelsea after just one year with the Yorkshire side.
He was the first overseas player to make 100 appearances for Chelsea and picked up two FA Cup winners medals. One in 1997 where he played against Middlesbrough in a 2-0 win but in 2000 against Aston Villa he had previously fallen out with the manager, Gianluca Vialli, meaning he was not even selected on the substitutes bench for the final. He is still revered by fans from Stamford Bridge and songs are still sung about him on the terraces.
He returned to Yorkshire with Bradford City but after their relegation, he joined up with former boss Glenn Hoddle, who had brought him to the Bridge,but this time Hoddle was managing Southampton.
Petrescu is seen as one of the best right-backs to play in the Premier League.
- Adrian Mutu (Chelsea)
A fellow Blue but not necessarily a player who enjoyed his time in the Premier League but certainly the best Romanian to play in the Premier League talent wise. Mutu arrived following a strong career in Serie A where he netted 35 goals for Inter Milan, Hellas Verona and Parma. His reputation was well-known before arriving in the Premier League.
He started well following the £15.8m move as part of the new Abramovich wave, he scored the winning goal on his debut against Leicester City with a thumping effort. With four goals in his opening three games, Mutu was expected to carry on this form for Chelsea.
He is seen as a big mistake by some Chelsea fans with the contract issues, but there was no doubting his talent, especially given he scored 35 goals for his country including a goal in Euro 2008 against Italy.
- Costel Pantillimon (Manchester City, Sunderland and Watford)
The tall tall tall goalkeeper was signed initially on a loan deal to back up number one Joe Hart, however, he stepped into the role of the number one when needed and deputised with great expertise. Predominantly playing in the League and FA Cup, the former Romanian number one helped Manchester City to the FA Cup final in 2012.
He made City fans feel confident when Hart was unable to play and they trusted him between the sticks. After leaving the Etihad with a Premier League winners and a winner of the League Cup, he went onto Sunderland.
He played in between the posts for Sunderland and played a major role in keeping the Black Cats in the Premier League in the 2014/15 season with eleven important clean sheets.
He later joined Watford but played second fiddle throughout his time to Heurelho Gomes and was struck with injury during the FA Cup run.
There is no doubt Pantillimon is still respected in conversations about Premier League players.
Honourable mentions
There are many more honourable mentions with the likes of Vlad Chiricheș (Spurs), Radu Drăgușin (Spurs) and Florin Andone (Brighton & Hove Albion) all playing at a high level in the Premier League.
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