TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Transfer
New York City FC confirmed the arrival of their latest Designated Player on Monday, announcing the signing of Alexandru Mitrita on a permanent transfer from Romanian Liga I club Universitatea Craiova.
The 23-year-old Romania international can play as an attacking midfielder, winger or forward and is the club’s third DP, joining Jesus Medina and Maxi Moralez. He has signed a multi-year contract and has joined the rest of NYCFC’s squad at their preseason camp in Abu Dhabi.
“I’m very happy to be a part of this team and I’m looking forward to getting started,” Mitrita said in a club release. “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.”
Mitrita has featured for three clubs in the Romanian first division throughout his career as well as a stint in Italy with Pescara, where he made 34 appearances in two seasons between Serie A and B. This season for Universitatea Craiova, Mitrita had 12 goals and four assists in 16 league games. His stellar first half of 2018/19 followed his debut campaign for the club in 2017/18 where he had 16 goals in 38 games across all competitions.
The €8 million transfer fee #NYCFC paid for Mitrita is the third-most expensive fee an MLS team has paid and the most any team not named Atlanta United have paid.
— Christian Araos (@CEAraos) February 4, 2019
“We’re very happy to have signed Alexandru because it was one of our main objectives in the offseason," NYCFC head coach Dome 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.”
Mitrita has also been capped six times by the Romanian national team.
