Nicolae Claudiu Stanciu (; born 7 May 1993) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Chinese Super League club Wuhan Three Towns and the Romania national team. He began his career with Unirea Alba Iulia and went on to represent Vaslui and Steaua București in his country, winning six domestic honours and making a name for himself with the latter. He moved abroad to Anderlecht in August 2016, becoming the then-most expensive signing made by a Belgian club and later, after bonuses, the then-biggest sale of the Romanian championship. Stanciu transferred to Sparta Prague one and a half-year later for another internal record fee. He left the Czech Republic at the start of 2019 to sign for Al-Ahli, only to return in that summer to the country with former rival club Slavia Prague, where he helped to back-to-back league titles in his first two seasons. Stanciu made his senior international debut for Romania in March 2016, after having previously represented it at under-19 and under-21 levels. He participated with the nation at UEFA Euro 2016. Early life Stanciu was born in the village of Craiva from Cricău, Alba County. He was raised mainly by his grandmother, who died in 2007 when he was only 14 years old. He dedicated his first senior national team goal to her. Club career Unirea Alba Iulia Stanciu joined Unirea Alba Iulia's youth system at the age of 11. On 25 May 2008, aged just 15 years and 18 days, he made his senior debut for the team, coming off the bench in a 4–1 victory over Corvinul Hunedoara in the Liga II championship. He spent the vast majority of the 2008–09 season on the sidelines, after suffering a long-term injury. On 1 May 2010, 17-year-old Stanciu made his Liga I debut under manager Blaž Slišković, playing 20 minutes in a 2–1 home win against Steaua București. In June, he was on trial with VfB Stuttgart, but the economic discrepancies between the two clubs made the transaction collapse. On 20 March 2011, Stanciu scored his first goal for Unirea in a 3–0 success over Petrolul Ploiești, and he also wore the captain's armband in the closing stages of the match following Adrian Câmpeanu's substitution. His last came on 20 August with the side again in the second division, in the campaign opener against CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea; during