Adrian Cristea

Adrian Cristea (born 30 November 1983) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a winger.

Cristea, nicknamed "Prințul" (The Prince), was born on 30 November 1983 in Iași, Romania. He began playing football for his hometown club, Politehnica, in the Romanian lower leagues. After helping Politehnica get promoted from Divizia B, Cristea made his Divizia A debut under coach Vasile Simionaș on 30 July 2004 in a 2–1 loss to Rapid București. One week later he netted his first goal when he opened the score in the 2–1 loss to Apulum Alba Iulia. On 3 October he scored the only goal in a victory against Steaua București.

After scoring two goals in 15 matches in the first half of the 2004–05 season, Cristea was transferred to Dinamo București where he was wanted by coach Ioan Andone. By the end of the season, he won the Cupa României but Andone did not use him in the final against Farul Constanța. Cristea started the following season by winning the Supercupa României but again without Andone playing him in the victory against Steaua București. The team also reached the 2005–06 UEFA Cup group stage where he played in three games, including a 1–0 victory against title holders CSKA Moscow.

He helped The Red Dogs win the 2006–07 title, scoring three goals in 28 matches under the guidance of coach Mircea Rednic. In the same season, Dinamo reached the UEFA Cup round of 32 where they were eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Benfica, Cristea scoring three goals in the campaign, including one in a 2–1 win over Beşiktaş in the group stage. On 1 November 2008, he equalized with a header, following a pass from Gabriel Torje for a 1–1 draw against rivals Steaua.

He contributed to another European performance, helping the club fulfill "The wonder from Liberec" by winning with 3–0 the away game against Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009–10 Europa League. On 17 October 2010, he scored a penalty goal in a 2–1 derby win over Steaua.

In December 2010, Cristea was transferred from Dinamo to Universitatea Cluj, for a total fee estimated by the Romanian press between €1.5 – 2 million. On 1 October 2011, he scored the first hat-trick of his career in Universitatea's 5–2 victory against Gaz Metan Mediaș. During one and a half years he netted 11 goals in 42 first-league matches for The Red Caps.

In the summer of 2012, he was transferred to Petrolul Ploiești, along with 11 other players from "U" Cluj, a move that occurred when the owner of the Cluj team left the club to take control of Petrolul. In November 2012, he scored his only goal for Petrolul in a 2–0 win against his former team, Universitatea Cluj.

His only experience abroad came in 2013, when he went to play in Belgium alongside fellow Romanian George Țucudean, being loaned by Petrolul to Standard Liège. He made his Belgian Pro League debut on 10 February 2013, as coach Mircea Rednic used him the entire match in Standard's 1–0 home loss to Mons.