Article by Andrei Crăiţoiu, Daniel Grigore – Published Thursday, December 18, 2025, 2:53 p.m. / Updated Thursday, December 18, 2025 3:10 p.m.
After 7 years in which he found himself in the final ranking for the Footballer of the Year award, Nicholas Stanciu (32 years old) disappeared from the traditional Gazeta Sporturilor investigation.
Starting from 2018, Nicolae Stanciu received, year after year, enough votes to appear in the ranking for the Footballer of the Year, one of the great prizes awarded in the GSP Superlatives.
In 2022, the year he became champion in China with Wuhan Three Towns, Nicolae Stanciu was named Footballer of the Year. He came close in 2021 and 2023, when he finished second. Anyway, since 2018, the Romanian midfielder has been a permanent presence in the top, never lower than 6th place.
After 7 years, Nicolae Stanciu did not get the top at GSP Superlatives!
His formidable streak ended this year, when Stanciu secured a move to Serie A at Genoa, but failed to establish himself there.
In order for a footballer to be in the final ranking, he needs to get TOP 5 in at least one of the 5 voter categories: GSP readers and editors, League 1 coaches, captains and officials.
This year, Stanciu did not collect enough votes in any of the categories, although there were a few names that chose him. For example, among the captains in League 1, Gheorghe Grozav (Petrolul) put him in first place, and Sziland Vereș (Csikszereda) and Darius Olaru (FCSB) in second place. We also add a 3rd place, in the case of Alexandru Chipciu (U Cluj).
As for the coaches, only one found a place anywhere in the TOP 3: it is about Marius Măldărășanu from Hermannstadt, right on the first position.
Andrei Rațiu, Footballer of the Year 2025
|
1. Andrei Ratiu |
21 p |
|
2. Dennis Man |
18 p |
|
3. Daniel Bîrligea |
9p |
|
4-5. Vlad Dragomir |
6 p |
|
Louis Munteanu |
6 p |
|
6. Alexandru Dobre |
5 p |
|
7-8. Alexandru Mitrița |
4 p |
|
Catalin Cîrjan |
4 p |
|
9-10. Ionut Radu |
1 p |
|
Ianis Hagi |
1 p |
HERE, deliat, the way it was voted
In a nutshell, the mechanism behind the awards:
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The Footballer of the Year is designated following votes cast by 5 distinct categories: GSP readers, GSP editors, respectively coaches, captains and officials of League 1 teams.
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In determining the final result, the votes of each of the 5 categories have an equal weight (20%), thus: 1st place receives 5 points, 2nd place receives 4 points and so on.
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Out of a total of 25 points, the maximum allowed by this voting mechanism, Ionuț Radu obtained only one, related to the 5th place occupied in the editor's vote.
