Catalin Cirjan arrived at North London with some measure of hype after he was snapped up from the youth academy of Viitorul Domne?ti to join Arsenal’s U-18s. Cirjan was always training with the first team and featured regularly in preseason but unfortunately, a nasty knee injury saw Cirjan miss out on his development but he did really well to claw his way back to football action.
Despite being a regular with the Under-21s, fans eagerly waited to see the young Romanian lad make an appearance for the first team, with the League Cup but it never materialized. Cirjan was eventually loaned to Rapid Bucharest, making 17 appearances, leading them to a second placed finish in the Romanian First Division.
After completing the campaign on loan, Cirjan returned to the club and with his contract not retained by Arsenal, he has opted to sign with Dinamo Bucharest, which offers him a chance of consistent football at the very least. Cirjan has said his goodbyes via his Instagram account, expressing his gratitude to players and staff that played a part in his development.
I wish Cirjan the very best in his new career move, but he will always feel like the one that got away.
Sayonara.
