Claudiu Niculescu

Early career

Niculescu was born on 23 June 1976 in Slatina, Romania. He began playing junior-level football in his hometown at CSȘ Slatina, alongside Ionel Dănciulescu, Ionuț Luțu and Augustin Chiriță, being coached by Ion Pârvulescu. He started his senior career in 1994, playing for Jiul IELIF Craiova in Divizia B. Subsequently, he played for one season at Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Divizia C, returning for the following one and a half seasons to play in Divizia B for Electroputere Craiova.

Universitatea Craiova

Niculescu made his Divizia A debut on 1 March 1998, playing for Universitatea Craiova under coach José Ramón Alexanko in a 2–1 victory against Petrolul Ploiești in which he scored one goal. He spent three and a half years with The Blue Lions, scoring 41 goals in 93 league matches. Niculescu played in two Cupa României finals in 1998 and 2000 which were both lost to Rapid București and Dinamo București respectively. He also appeared in both legs of "U" Craiova's 2–1 aggregate loss to Pobeda in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup qualifying round.

Dinamo București and Genoa

In 2001, Niculescu went to play for Dinamo București where in his first season he won the Divizia A title, being the second top-scorer of the league with 15 goals, as coaches Cornel Dinu and Marin Ion gave him 28 appearances. In 2002, shortly after beating goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a spectacular 30-meter shot in a 5–2 friendly loss to Real Madrid, Niculescu was transferred to Genoa…

Niculescu played eight games for Romania, making his debut when coach László Bölöni sent him to replace Marius Niculae in the 81st minute of a 2–1 friendly victory against FR Yugoslavia. He also played two games in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and one during the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Niculescu's last appearance for the national team took place on 22 August 2007 in a 2–0 home win in a friendly against Turkey.

Niculescu's first coaching experience came in November 2010, when he served as a player-coach for two matches at Universitatea Cluj. His second coaching stint was in the same dual-role capacity at "U" Cluj in March 2012. Niculescu resigned on 23 July 2012, after the first game of the 2012–13 season, a 6–2 loss to Pandurii Târgu Jiu. On 25 September 2012, Niculescu was installed as the head coach of Liga II team Bihor Oradea with the objective of earning promotion to the first division. In December, he ended his contract, after only eight games (two wins, three draws and three losses). From 2013 to 2015, he continued to work for teams in the second league such as Damila Măciuca, CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea and Mioveni. In April 2017, Niculescu was appointed coach of Liga I team Voluntari. He helped them win the 2016–17 Cupa României, by defeating Astra Giurgiu at the penalty shoot-out in the final. Subsequently, he led them to win another trophy, the 2017 Supercupa României, after a 1–0 victory against Viitorul Constanța. He left Voluntari in April 2018. In September 2018, Niculescu was appointed coach of Dinamo București, following the dismissal of Florin Bratu. However, on 13 October, he was dismissed and replaced by Mircea Rednic. In the summer of 2019, he took over Saudi second tier club Al-Tai, but left in October, following three consecutive losses. In the following years, Niculescu worked for several clubs in the Romanian second league, including a second spell at Mioveni, then…

Niculescu's father, Marin, was a football coach in the Romanian lower leagues. His brothers Mihai and Dragoș and his cousin Ovidiu were footballers in the Romanian lower leagues. In 1998 he married Lidia and they had two kids together, Alexandru and Rebecca. They divorced in 2006. In June 2007, he married Diana Munteanu who was a TV host, and their wedding was considered the wedding of the year by the Romanian press. Together they had a son named David Cristian. He and Diana divorced in 2014. Niculescu was ranked 83rd in the 2006 nationwide poll of the 100 Greatest Romanians. In 2025, he was named Honorary Citizen of Slatina.