Valentin Mihăilă

Valentin Mihai Mihăilă (born 2 February 2000) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Italian club Parma and the Romania national under-21 team.

Valentin Mihăilă
Personal information
Full name Valentin Mihai Mihăilă
Date of birth (2000-02-02) 2 February 2000[1]
Place of birth Târgoviște, Romania
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Parma
Number 28
Youth career
2012–2015 Viitorul Știința Craiova
2015–2018 Universitatea Craiova
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Universitatea Craiova 61 (8)
2020– Parma 4 (0)
National team‡
2018–2019 Romania U19 6 (6)
2019– Romania U21 6 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 October 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2019

Mihăilă began his professional career at Universitatea Craiova, with which he appeared in over 60 Romanian first league matches before being subject to a €8.5 million transfer to Parma at age 20.

Internationally, he represented Romania at under-19 and under-21 levels.

Club career

Universitatea Craiova

Mihăilă made his senior debut for Universitatea Craiova on 24 October 2017, aged 17, in a 2–0 away victory over Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe counting for the Cupa României.[2] He did not appear in any other match for the Alb-albaștrii during that season, but on 9 August 2018 started in a 1–3 away defeat to RB Leipzig in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. His debut in the Liga I, the highest level of the Romanian league system, came in a 0–1 loss on 29 July 2018, also against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe.

Mihăilă began to play frequently and on 19 April 2019 recorded his first league goal–and the only goal of the match–in an away fixture with Astra Giurgiu. He amassed 32 matches all competitions comprised in the 2018–19 campaign, and at the end of the year Craiova head coach Victor Pițurcă confirmed that their club rejected a €5 million bid for the youngster from fellow Liga I side FCSB.[3]

During his third season as a senior at the club, Mihăilă netted nine times in all competitions and was close to claiming the national title; Universitatea Craiova however lost the final game of the competition 1–3 to eventual champions CFR Cluj, on 3 August 2020.

Parma

On 5 October 2020, Italian team Parma announced the signing of Mihăilă on a five-year contract, with "the Yellow and Blues" reportedly paying a transfer fee of €8.5 million for the winger.[4][5] This made him the third-most expensive sale of the Romanian league championship, slightly surpassing former teammate Alexandru Mitriță on that place (€8 million, from Universitatea Craiova to New York City in 2018).

After struggling for several months with athletic pubalgia, Mihăilă finally made his debut for Parma on 3 January 2021, after entering as a 75th-minute substitute in a 0–3 Serie A loss to Torino.[6] Three days later, he came on in the 10th minute for injured Yann Karamoh in another 0–3 league loss to Atalanta. Mihăilă appeared for the first time in the starting eleven on 21 January, and managed to score the equaliser in an eventual 1–2 defeat to Lazio in the Coppa Italia.[7]

International career

Mihăilă attracted significant media attention after contributing to Romania national under-21 team's win in a UEFA Euro 2021 qualifier against Finland on 14 November 2019, as he scored a hat-trick and provoked an own goal.[8]

Career statistics

Club
As of 21 January 2021.[9]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Universitatea Craiova 2017–18 Liga I 0 0 1 0 0 0 – 1 0
2018–19 29 1 2 0 1 0 – 32 1
2019–20 27 7 3 2 1 0 – 31 9
2020–21 5 0 0 0 1 0 – 6 0
Total 61 8 6 2 3 0 – 70 10
Parma 2020–21 Serie A 4 0 1 1 – – 5 1
Career total 65 8 7 3 3 0 0 0 75 11

Honours

Club

Universitatea Craiova

References
  1. "La mulți ani, Valentin Mihăilă! #18" [Happy birthday, Valentin Mihăilă! #18] (in Romanian). CS Universitatea Craiova. 2 February 2018.
  2. "Ascensiunea pepinierei: a debutat și Mihăilă în tricoul Științei!" [The ascent of our talent farm: Mihăilă also made his debut in the jersey of "Știința"] (in Romanian). CS Universitatea Craiova. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  3. "Gigi Becali nu a jucat la derută, Victor Pițurcă a confirmat oferta de 5 milioane de euro pentru Mihăilă. „Nu pleacă nici pentru 10 milioane"" [Gigi Becali did not bluff, Victor Pițurcă confirmed the 5 million euros offer for Mihăilă. "He is not leaving, not even for 10 million"] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 17 December 2019.
  4. "Official: Mihaila to Parma". Football Italia. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  5. Răureanu, Remus (4 October 2020). "UPDATE Valentin Mihăilă a semnat pe 5 ani cu Parma » Dezvăluiri din culise: impresarul român care a realizat transferul de 8,5 milioane de euro" [UPDATE Valentin Mihăilă signed a 5-year contract with Parma » From behind the curtains: the Romanian agent who made the 8.5 million euros transfer possible]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  6. "Valentin Mihăilă a debutat în Serie A! Primele imagini cu atacantul român în tricoul Parmei pe teren. Echipa românului, învinsă" [Valentin Mihăilă made his debut in the Serie A! The first images with the Romanian forward on the field in Parma's shirt. The Romanian's team, defeated] (in Romanian). Telekom Sport. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  7. Berardino, Nicola (21 January 2021). "Lazio ai quarti contro l'Atalanta: un autogol al 90' condanna il Parma" [Lazio in the quarter-finals against Atalanta: a 90th-minute own goal condemns Parma]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  8. "Mihăilă, de neoprit! Starul Craiovei a dat patru goluri cu Finlanda" [Mihăilă, unstoppable! The Craiova star scored four goals against Finland] (in Romanian). Realitatea Sportivă. 14 November 2019.
  9. Valentin Mihăilă at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
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