Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Saturday, January 17, 2026, 09:42 / Updated Saturday, January 17, 2026 09:49
Nicholas Stanciu (32 years old) is our latest foreigner to fail in the elite of Italian football. Kicked out of Genoa after four matches played in five months in Serie A, the captain of the national team joins a long series of Romanian transfers that have proved bankrupt in Italian football in the last two decades.
Gazeta Sporturilor has selected the 10 most representative internationals who have terribly disappointed this century. None of them reached 10 games played in Serie A and, with the exception of one, they failed to score at all and only managed one assist in total!
152 minutes played on average in Serie A! With only one goal scored – Coman at Cagliari – and only one assist – Zicu at Parma
Most of them are footballers with an offensive profile and they came with claims and expectations in the elite of Italian football, but all of them went out the back door very quickly, leaving behind only criticism from fans and the press, regrets for the money thrown out the window by the clubs and, last but not least, frustration for the wasted chance to show off in a top showcase in Europe.
Nicolae Dică lasted only one season at Catania, who loaned him to Iraklis, CFR Cluj and Manisaspor and Steaua / Photo: Imago
Starting in 2010, a few months after Chivu won the Treble with Inter, with Denis Alibec, who failed at Inter and Bologna, to Nicolae Stanciu, whose adventure ended unhappily with a forced divorce from Genoa, Ianis Hagi, Dennis Drăguș, Florinel Coman, Nicolae Dică, Ianis Zicu, Cosmin Moți, Romario Benzar and Constantin Alexe signed up in the album of shame, the order of citation being random.
The statistics of the 10 internationals in Serie A
|
Player |
Team (Season) |
Matches / Minutes played |
Goals / Assists |
|
Ianis Hagi |
Fiorentina (2016-2017) |
2 / 48 |
0 / 0 |
|
Romario Benzar |
Lecce (2019-2020) |
3 / 97 |
0 / 0 |
|
Denis Alibec |
Inter (2010-2011), Bologna (2013-2014) |
3 / 60 |
0 / 0 |
|
Nicolae Dica |
Catania (2008-2009) |
3 / 98 |
0 / 0 |
|
Nicholas Stanciu |
Genoa (2025-2026) |
4 / 180 |
0 / 0 |
|
Cosmin Moti |
Siena (2008-2009) |
4 / 169 |
0 / 0 |
|
Alex Marius |
Sassuolo (2013-2014) |
6 / 165 |
0 / 0 |
|
Ianis Zicu |
Parma (2003-2005) |
9 / 276 |
0 / 1 |
|
Denis Dragus |
Crotone (2020-2021) |
9 / 171 |
0 / 0 |
|
Florinel Coman |
Cagliari (2024-2025) |
9 / 258 |
1/0 |
Apart from Moți and Benzar, there were only offensive players who transferred from the country with star status and left with their tails between their legs, without even having ticked off ten appearances in Serie A! None of the aforementioned ten reached 300 minutes spent on the grass of the peninsular stadiums. Average per player, 152 minutes played in Serie A
Florinel Coman needed 2 minutes to debut with a goal in Cagliari. He stayed with him, returning to Al-Gharafa after half a season / Photo: Imago
I mean, Alibec and Ianis Hagi caused the biggest damage, with 7 million euros spent in total by the Italians. In vain!
How much did the respective Romanian players who reached Serie A cost? Alibec left Dinamo for Inter for 500,000 euros. They say he left Steaua for Catania in exchange for 2.5 million, Moti was loaned to Siena for 600,000 euros by Dinamo, who also collected 500,000 for Alexe to Sassuolo (in the same formula).
313selections and 48 goals for the Romanian national team have together the 10 players who deeply disappointed in Serie A
Zicu was bought by Inter for 2.5 million, Drăguș was loaned by Standard to Crotone for no money, as was Coman to Cagliari. Ianis Hagi cost Fiorentina 2 million when he took him from Viitorul, Lecce paid 1.7 million to FCSB for Benzar. Finally, the last on the list of catastrophes, Nicolae Stanciu, came free of contract from Damac and also left from Genoa.
