Maximilian Nicu

Maximilian Nicu (born 25 November 1982) is a German-Romanian former professional footballer. He has spent most of his career in Germany, apart from two short spells in Romania and Cyprus.

Maximilian Nicu
Personal information
Full name Maximilian Johannes Ştefan Nicu
Date of birth (1982-11-25) 25 November 1982
Place of birth Prien am Chiemsee, West Germany
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1988–1994 TuS Prien
1994–1997 TSV 1860 Rosenheim
1997–2002 SpVgg Unterhaching
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 SpVgg Unterhaching 23 (2)
2004 Rot-Weiss Erfurt 13 (0)
2005–2006 Wehen Wiesbaden 48 (20)
2006–2007 Wacker Burghausen 31 (6)
2007–2008 Wehen Wiesbaden 32 (6)
2008–2010 Hertha BSC 43 (3)
2010–2012 SC Freiburg 27 (0)
2012–2013 1860 Munich 25 (0)
2014 Universitatea Cluj 8 (2)
2014–2015 Aris Limassol 7 (0)
2015 SV Elversberg 18 (1)
2015–2018 SpVgg Unterhaching 70 (7)
Total 345 (47)
National team
2009 Romania 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 December 2018

Club career

Hertha BSC

Nicu made his first appearance with Hertha BSC on 31 July 2008 in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first qualifying round second leg against FC Nistru Otaci. He made his Bundesliga debut on 17 August 2008 in Hertha's opening fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt. Nicu came on in the 71st minute as a substitute, replacing Patrick Ebert. After two seasons with Hertha, the club chose not to renew Nicu's contract following their relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.

SC Freiburg

On 1 July 2010, Nicu signed for SC Freiburg.[1]

1860 Munich

On 31 January 2012, Nicu signed for 2. Bundesliga side 1860 Munich.

Universitatea Cluj

On 14 January 2014 he signed a contract with Universitatea Cluj making it the first Romanian club in his career.

Aris Limassol

In July 2014, Maximilian Nicu signed a one-year contract with Cypriot Second Division club Aris Limassol.[2]

SV Elversberg

In January 2015, after a year abroad, he returned to his native Germany and signed for fourth tier Regionalliga Südwest side SV Elversberg until 2016.[3]

SpVgg Unterhaching

In August 2015, Nicu joined SpVgg Unterhaching from Elversberg for a second stint at the club. In April 2018, Unterhaching announced Nicu would retire from professional football at the end of the 2017–18 season.[4]

International career

Nicu elected to play for the country of his parents, rather than his country of birth. In 2009, he requested a Romanian passport.[5] Nicu was called up for matches against Serbia and Austria. At first it appeared he would not be able to play, since he had not received his Romanian citizenship yet,[6] but on 17 March it was announced that Nicu had been granted citizenship and would be permitted to play.

On 20 March 2009, he pledged his vow to become a Romanian citizen.[7] He made his debut for Romania on 1 April 2009 against Austria.

Career statistics
As of match played 5 December 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SpVgg Unterhaching 2002–03 Regionalliga Süd 23230—262
2003–04 2. Bundesliga 0000—00
Total 2323000262
Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2003–04 Regionalliga Süd 130——130
Wehen Wiesbaden 2004–05 144——144
2005–06 3416——3416
Total 482000004820
Wacker Burghausen 2006–07 2. Bundesliga 31631—347
Wehen Wiesbaden 2007–08 32610—336
Hertha BSC 2008–09 Bundesliga 282207[lower-alpha 1]1373
2009–10 151209[lower-alpha 1]0261
Total 43340161634
SC Freiburg 2010–11 Bundesliga 23010—240
2011–12 4010—50
Total 2702000290
1860 Munich 2011–12 2. Bundesliga 15000—150
2012–13 10020—120
Total 2502000270
Universitatea Cluj 2013–14 Liga I 8200—82
Aris Limassol 2014–15 Second Division 7000—70
SV Elversberg 2014–15 Regionalliga Südwest 141——141
2015–16 4010—50
Total 1811000191
Unterhaching 2015–16 Regionalliga Bayern 21420—234
2016–17 35210—362
2017–18 3. Liga 14100—70
Total 7073000737
Career total 3454719116138049
  1. Appearances in the Europa League

References
  1. "Freiburg verpflichtet Nicu" (in German). DFL. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  2. "Ανακοίνωση: Ποιότητα στην μεσαία γραμμή με… Maximilian Nicu" (in Greek). Aris Limassol FC. 29 July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  3. "SVE verpflichtet Nicu und Nagel" [SVE signs Nicu and Nagel] (in German). SV Elversberg. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  4. "Haching verliert Nicu, Piller, Lux und Rosenzweig". kicker Online (in German). 4 April 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  5. "Maximilian Nicu beantragt Pass für Rumänien" (in German). Berliner Morgenpost. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  6. ""STRANIERII" PENTRU JOCURILE CU SERBIA ŞI AUSTRIA" (in Romanian). 13 March 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  7. "VIDEO » Max Nicu a depus jurămîntul". Archived from the original on 21 March 2009.
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