Andrei Rațiu

Andrei Florin Rațiu (born 20 June 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and the Romania national team.

Mainly a right-back, he can also be deployed as a right winger.

Born in Aiud, Alba County, Rațiu moved to Aragon, Spain at the age of six and joined Villarreal's youth setup from Andorra CF.

He made his senior debut with the C-team on 20 August 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–2 Tercera División away draw against Alzira.

Rațiu scored his first senior goal on 14 September 2016, netting the opener in a 2–1 away defeat of Elche Ilicitano.

After being regularly used with the C-side, Rațiu made his debut for the reserves on 17 December 2017, replacing Darío Poveda late into a 3–2 home win against Peña Deportiva in the Segunda División B championship.

He was definitely promoted to the B-team in August 2018, being regularly used afterwards.

He made his first team debut the following 18 April, starting in a 2–0 derby loss at Valencia for the season's UEFA Europa League.

On 4 August 2020, Rațiu was loaned to Dutch Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag for the campaign.

He returned to his parent club the following 29 January, after 12 appearances.

On 4 August 2021, Rațiu signed a three-year contract with Huesca, recently relegated to Segunda División.

He scored his first professional goal on 21 May 2022, netting his team's second in a 3–2 home win over Real Sociedad B.

On 26 August 2023, Rațiu agreed to a five-year deal with La Liga side Rayo Vallecano.

He made his debut on 1 November, in a 6–0 Copa del Rey thrashing of Atlético Lugones in which he also scored.

Four days later, he played the full 90 minutes in a goalless league away draw at Real Madrid.

Rațiu made his debut for the Romania national team on 2 September 2021, in a 2–0 win over Iceland in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

He started the game and was substituted after 68 minutes.

On 26 September 2022, Rațiu scored his first goal in a 4–1 defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had already won its UEFA Nations League group at that point.

The next year, Rațiu totalled five appearances in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, including a start in the final 1–0 victory over Switzerland, as Romania won Group I undefeated.