| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexandru Cristian Albu | ||
| Date of birth | 17 August 1993 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Positions | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | CSA Steaua București | ||
| Number | 34 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2004 | Palatul Național | ||
| 2004–2009 | Inter Sport | ||
| 2009–2011 | Unirea Urziceni | ||
| 2011–2012 | Concordia Chiajna | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2016 | Concordia II Chiajna | ||
| 2015–2022 | Concordia Chiajna | 119 | (9) |
| 2020 | → Academica Clinceni (loan) | 16 | (2) |
| 2020–2021 | → UTA Arad (loan) | 36 | (2) |
| 2021–2022 | → Rapid București (loan) | 34 | (7) |
| 2022–2024 | Rapid București | 61 | (3) |
| 2024 | Al-Hazem | 3 | (0) |
| 2024 | Al-Safa | 11 | (0) |
| 2025 | Botoșani | 0 | (0) |
| 2025 | Chindia Târgoviște | 14 | (4) |
| 2026 | Unirea Slobozia | 17 | (3) |
| 2026– | CSA Steaua București | 10 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 2021 | Romania | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17 October 2026 | |||
Alexandru Cristian Albu (Romanian pronunciation: [alekˈsandru kristiˈan ˈalbu]; born 17 August 1993) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or a defender for Liga II club CSA Steaua București.
Albu started out his professional career at Concordia Chiajna in 2015, where he spent several seasons playing in the Liga I before relegating to the second division. Following loans to Academica Clinceni, UTA Arad, and Rapid București, respectively, he signed a permanent contract with the latter in 2021.
Internationally, Albu made his senior debut for Romania in October 2021, in a 2–1 away FIFA World Cup qualifier loss to Germany.
Albu was born in Bucharest and is of Romani ethnicity. He grew up supporting Steaua București.
Albu made his professional debut for Concordia Chiajna on 1 May 2015, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Hristijan Dragarski in a 1–0 home Liga I win over Pandurii Târgu Jiu. He became a regular starter for the club in the 2016–17 season, and on 7 September 2016 scored his first goal in a 2–1 Cupa Ligii loss to ACS Poli Timișoara.
On 4 March 2017, Albu recorded his first league goal in a 1–1 draw against the same opponent. He amassed totals of 99 appearances and three goals in the top flight for "the Green Eagles", before relegating to the Liga II at the end of the 2018–19 campaign.
In January 2020, Albu returned to the Liga I by signing for newly-promoted Academica Clinceni on loan for the remainder of the season. On 16 August, he moved to UTA Arad on a one-year loan.
On 16 June 2021, Albu was loaned again to Rapid București, totalling 36 games and a career-best seven goals in all competitions during the 2021–22 season.
In the summer of 2022, Albu joined Rapid București on a permanent basis after the team paid a previously-agreed €150,000 to Concordia Chiajna. On 23 April 2023, he scored the only goal of a home derby victory over FCSB in the Liga I.
On 25 February 2024, he and his teammate Andrei Borza were expelled from the squad for an undetermined period—later revealed as one match—because they partied in a nightclub after a 3–1 loss to Politehnica Iași.
Albu made his debut for the Romania national team on 8 October 2021, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Nicolae Stanciu in a 2–1 away loss to Germany counting for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Albu played as a defender during the first part of his career, mostly as a centre-back, and later developed into a defensive midfielder.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Concordia Chiajna | 2014–15 | Liga I | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Liga I | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 37 | 3 | |||
| 2017–18 | Liga I | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 39 | 0 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Liga I | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 25 | 1 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Liga II | 20 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 119 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 123 | 10 | ||||
| Academica Clinceni (loan) | 2019–20 | Liga I | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| UTA Arad (loan) | 2020–21 | Liga I | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37 | 2 | |||
| Rapid București (loan) | 2021–22 | Liga I | 34 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 36 | 7 | |||
| Rapid București | 2022–23 | Liga I | 32 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 35 | 5 | |||
| 2023–24 | Liga I | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 32 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 95 | 10 | 8 | 2 | — | — | — | 103 | 12 | |||||
| Al-Hazem | 2024–25 | Saudi First Division League | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Al-Safa | 2024–25 | Saudi First Division League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| Botoșani | 2024–25 | Liga I | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Chindia Târgoviște | 2025–26 | Liga II | 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 4 | |||
| Unirea Slobozia | 2025–26 | Liga I | 17 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 3 | ||||
| CSA Steaua București | 2026–27 | Liga II | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 321 | 31 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 339 | 34 | ||||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
Concordia Chiajna
Albu was a central defender in the small, amateur leagues in which he played, then remainded a centre-back for Chiajna, with which he relegated from the first league to the second. [...] Poenaru told them he was going to convert Albu from a defender to a midfielder, which he did.