Bogdan Vatajelu

Bogdan Ilie Vatajelu (born 24 April 1993) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for Romanian club CS Universitatea Craiova.

Club Career

Early years

Vatajelu is a product of the Steaua București youth academy and made his professional debut with the reserves in 2010. Making 25 appearances for the reserves, he joined CSM Ramnicu Valcea in 2011 playing there until 2013 in Liga II.

In 2013, he signed for Metalul Reșița where he had a brief spell playing in 14 outings. He was named the captain after playing just two matches. During his time in the club, it was reported that Premier League club Sunderland, Championship club Watford and even Spanish club RCD Mallorca showed their interest in signing him.

Universitatea Craiova

In January 2014, Vatajelu penned a three-year deal with CS Universitatea Craiova, who were playing in the second league at that time. He made 14 appearances in the remainder of the season and helped his team achieve promotion to the Liga I.

Vatajelu was Universitatea's most featured player in the 2014–15 season and in 2016 he eventually gained team captaincy. On 2 October 2016, he scored from action in a 1–2 loss against his former club Steaua București.

Sparta Prague

On 27 December 2016, Vatajelu signed a 3+1⁄2-year contract with Czech club Sparta Prague for an undisclosed transfer fee, rumoured to be around €1.4 million.

On 26 June 2019, Vatajelu signed a four-year contract with Romanian club Universitatea Craiova.