Passionate, loyal, consistent, solid. All of these words describe Lazio’s most capped currently active player, Stefan Radu. Radu is an unsung hero and a left-sided defender who rarely has a bad game. Since arriving at Lazio in January of 2008, the Romanian international has since become a first-team regular and has even sporadically worn the armband for the Biancoceleste.
Background
Stefan Daniel Radu was born on the 22nd of October, 1986 in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. At the age of just 13, he was signed to the youth team of the Romanian giants, Dinamo București and was there until he got promoted to the senior team five years later. He spent four seasons there amassing 61 caps and gained national attention as a great talent by the Romanian media. His performances at center-back for Dinamo helped them win their 18th league title.
Arrival to Lazio
Lazio signed the largely coveted defender on loan for €1M in the winter of the following season. Radu made his debut in a 2-1 win over Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia. He did very well in his loan spell and as a result, earned a permanent €3.5M move to the capital club. In his first full season with Lazio, manager Delio Rossi had faith in Stefan, playing him in 21 games in all competitions. This faith paid off as Radu helped Lazio win their 5th Coppa Italia and then their 3rd Supercoppa Italiana a few months later.
Background, History, Accomplishments
In the following 2009-10 season, despite Lazio finishing 12th in the Serie A, Radu was named among the 10 best defenders in Italy by Castrol. His solid performances even piqued the interest of Palermo, Inter, and Bayern Munich, but fortunately for us Laziali he stayed put. Radu’s fourth season with the Biancoceleste saw manager Edy Reja convert him to left-back in a four-at-the-back formation. Unfortunately, his season was interrupted by a meniscus injury. Radu then returned to help Lazio achieve a very impressive fifth place finish. In June of 2011, the Romanian international renewed his contract with Lazio until 2016. In the following season, he appeared in 21 Serie A and five Europa League matches, finishing with a very respectable average rating of 7.15 and one MOTM performance.
Statistics
Goals: 7
Assists: 18
Own Goals: 0
Yellow Cards: 82
Red Cards: 4
Career tackles/game: 1.7
Career interceptions/game: 2.6
Career clearances/game: 4.1
MOTM: 5
Average Rating: 7.02
Serie A appearances: 264 (8th all time)
UEFA appearances: 41 (10th all time)
Domestic cup appearances: 25
Total Lazio appearances: 330(7th all time)
Minutes played: 28,273
Trophies: 4 (Coppa Italia x2, Supercoppa Italiana x2)
(Sources: transfermarkt.co.uk, whoscored.com: for Lazio as of December 25th, 2018)
Final Notes
I believe there’s a clear correlation between Lazio’s success and how often Radu plays. For example, in 2015-16 Radu had 13 Serie A caps and Lazio finished a measly eighth, but the season before and after that one he made 24 and 29 appearances respectively and Lazio did much better, placing third the year before and fifth the year later. Furthermore, his old club Dinamo Bucuresti have not won a league title since leaving the club more than 10 years ago. This is no coincidence.
Radu is a quiet difference maker. He puts in his all for the biancoceleste and is as dependable as they get. Stefan Radu is not flashy by any means, but he does his job and he does it well. He is the club’s most capped non-Italian and with 330 appearances under his belt (and counting), Lazio’s Mr. Consistent defenceman is sure to become a club legend when he retires.