Tudor Băluță

Tudor Cristian Băluță (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈtudor kristiˈan bəˈlut͡sə]; born 27 March 1999) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for Brighton & Hove Albion, and the Romanian national team.

Tudor Băluță
Băluță with Romania in 2019
Personal information
Full name Tudor Cristian Băluță
Date of birth (1999-03-27) 27 March 1999
Place of birth Craiova, Romania
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position(s) Defensive midfielder, defender
Club information
Current team
 Brighton & Hove Albion
Number 28
Youth career
2007–2013 Gheorghe Popescu Football School
2013–2015 Gheorghe Hagi Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2019 Viitorul Constanța 42 (2)
2019– Brighton & Hove Albion 0 (0)
2019 → Viitorul Constanța (loan) 11 (0)
2020 → ADO Den Haag (loan) 4 (0)
National team‡
2017–2018 Romania U19 6 (3)
2019– Romania U21 7 (2)
2018– Romania 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:05, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:05, 29 June 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Viitorul Constanța

Băluță began his career in native Craiova, joining the Gheorghe Popescu Football School at age 8. Six years later, he moved to Viitorul Constanța's academy.[1] Băluță made his professional debut in the Liga I on 2 May 2016, aged 17, replacing Ianis Hagi in the 54th minute of a 6–1 thrashing of ASA Târgu Mureș.[2][3]

Băluță playing against Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Europa League, 24 August 2017.

He did not feature in any senior games in the next season as Viitorul won the first league title in its history, but started appearing frequently for the side since the summer of 2017. On 24 August that year, Băluță recorded his European debut in a UEFA Europa League play-off round 0–4 loss to Red Bull Salzburg.[4] On 30 August 2018, he scored his first goal—and the only of the match—in a league win over Astra Giurgiu.[5]

Brighton & Hove Albion

Băluță agreed to a three-and-a-half-year contract with English club Brighton & Hove Albion on 31 January 2019.[6] Băluță made the bench for the first time for the Seagulls in a 2–1 away win over Bristol Rovers in the EFL Cup on 27 August 2019 and was named on the bench in a Premier League fixture for the first time in a 1–1 home draw against Burnley on 14 September. He remained an unused substitute in both fixtures.[7] [8] Băluță made his debut for the Sussex club in the EFL Cup playing the whole match in the 3–1 home defeat to Aston Villa on 25 September.[9]

Viitorul Constanța (loan)

Băluță was immediately loaned back to Viitorul Constanța for the remainder of the campaign.[10] Press reported the transfer fee at €3 million, which made him the club's most expensive sale at the time, tied with Florinel Coman.[11]

On 25 May, he was a starter and played the full match in the Cupa României final 2–1 success against Astra Giurgiu.[12]

ADO Den Haag (loan)

On 17 January 2020 it was confirmed that Băluță had joined ADO Den Haag on loan until the end of the season.[13] He made his debut for the Eredivisie side a week later playing the full match in a 4–0 away loss at FC Utrecht.[14] Băluță made 4 appearances for The Hague based side with his time at the club cut short due to the Dutch FA taking the decision to cancel the season due to Covid-19.[15]


International career

Băluță earned his first senior cap for Romania on 31 May 2018, entering as a 71st-minute substitute for former Viitorul Constanța teammate Dragoș Nedelcu in a 3–2 friendly victory against Chile.[16]

Despite not playing in the qualification phase, he was selected in Romania's squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Italy. Băluță scored on his debut against Croatia on 19 June that year, which ended in a 4–1 win for his side.[17] He recorded three more games as Tricolorii mici were eliminated by Germany in the semi-finals, following a 2–4 defeat.[18]

Style of play

Băluță is deployed primarily as a defensive midfielder, but started out as a central defender.[3] He has been likened to former Romanian international and Barcelona captain Gheorghe Popescu, also a native of Dolj County, who in his turn described Băluță as an "intelligent player" with "exceptional qualities".[1]

Career statistics
As of end of the 2019–20 season[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Viitorul Constanța 2015–16 Liga I 2000—0010
2016–17 0000—0000
2017–18 24010—1[lower-alpha 1]0260
2018–19 27230—4[lower-alpha 1]0303
Total 53240—50622
Brighton & Hove Albion 2019–20 Premier League 000010—10
ADO den Haag (loan) 2019–20 Eredivisie 4000––40
Total 572401050672
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
Băluță (left) in a match with Sweden in March 2019.

International
As of 18 November 2019[20]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania 201830
201940
Total70

Honours

Club

Viitorul Constanța

gollark: Ah yes. A multitentacled superintelligent emu.
gollark: Is the emu more intelligent than standard emus or will it just think animal things constantly?
gollark: How do they test that?
gollark: Merely gazing upon the glory of Sam would destroy your feeble mind.
gollark: They're giant slugs with probably tentacles for some reason.

References
  1. ""Determinare incredibila, baiat destept, fotbalist complet!" Gica Popescu, cuvinte uriase pentru Tudor Baluta" ["Incredible determination, a smart boy, complete footballer!" Gică Popescu, giant words for Tudor Băluță] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  2. "Viitorul - Târgu Mureș 6-1. Echipa lui Gică Hagi a obținut prima victorie in play-off" [Viitorul - Târgu Mureș 6–1. Gică Hagi's team obtained its first victory in the championship play-offs] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  3. "Hagi anunță un nume de Viitor: Tudor Băluță!" [Hagi announces a name for the future: Tudor Băluță!] (in Romanian). Reporter NTV. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. "Salzburg 4–0 Viitorul". UEFA. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  5. "Viitorul - Astra 1-0. Băluţă a marcat golul victoriei în prelungiri! Hagi a fost trimis în tribune după ce s-a contrat cu staff-ul advers, giurgiuvenii au evoluat mai bine de o repriză în 10 oameni" [Viitorul - Astra 1–0. Băluță scored the winner in the injury-time! Hagi was sent out after a conflict with the opposing staff, the Giurgiu men played more than half of the game with 10 footballers] (in Romanian). ProSport. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  6. "ALBION SIGN ROMANIA INTERNATIONAL". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  7. "Bristol Rovers v Brighton & Hove Albion - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  8. "Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Burnley: Jeff Hendrick scores in stoppage time to earn visitors a point - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  9. "Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Aston Villa: Conor Hourihane scores win - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  10. "ALBION SIGN ROMANIA INTERNATIONAL". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  11. "Tudor Baluta a semnat! Gica Hagi si-a egalat recordul! Ce salariu va avea mijlocasul, în Premier League" [Tudor Băluță has signed! Gică Hagi equaled his record! What salary the midfielder will have in the Premier League] (in Romanian). BZI. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019. Thus, Hagi equaled his record for the most expensive transfer in the history of the club. For Florinel Coman, Gigi Becali had also paid a total of 3 million euros.
  12. "Viitorul lui Hagi castiga Cupa Romaniei dupa o finala complicata cu Astra" [Hagi's Viitorul wins the Romanian Cup after a difficult final with Astra] (in Romanian). Ziare. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  13. "Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder completes loan deal to Alan Pardew's ADO Den Haag". Sussex Express. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  14. "Vier keer feest!". FC Utrecht. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  15. "Coronavirus and sport: Eredivisie cancelled because of pandemic - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 25 April 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  16. "România - Chile 3-2. Rezerva Budescu a adus victoria tricolorilor. Sud-americanii au jucat o oră în 10" [Romania - Chile 3–2. Substitute Budescu brought victory for "the Tricolours". The South Americans played for an hour in ten men] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  17. "Romania 4–1 Croatia". UEFA.com. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  18. "Germany 4–2 Romania". UEFA.com. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  19. Tudor Băluță at Soccerway
  20. "Tudor Băluță". European Football. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
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