# Dan Nistor

Dan Nicolae Nistor (born 6 May 1988) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Universitatea Cluj.
After starting out in the lower leagues, Nistor totalled over 100 matches for Liga I team Pandurii Târgu Jiu between 2010 and 2013. His performances inspired a transfer abroad to Evian, but was used sparingly in France and quickly returned to Pandurii Târgu Jiu. He has since spent his career with local clubs Dinamo București, CFR Cluj, Universitatea Craiova, and Universitatea Cluj.
Nistor made his senior international debut for Romania in June 2013, in a 4–0 victory over for Trinidad and Tobago.

## Club career
### Early career

Nistor did not play football at junior level, but in 2005 joined his hometown club AS Rucăr in the lower leagues. Roughly two years later, during a match against the reserves of Argeș Pitești, he impressed Internațional Curtea de Argeș owner Benone Lazăr who was in the attendance. Nistor was then transferred to the latter club at the cost of seven football balls.
After his first season at Internațional in the third league, Nistor was loaned to Muscelul Câmpulung and Dacia Mioveni, respectively. Upon his return to Curtea de Argeș in 2010, the team withdrew from the Liga I championship due to financial issues.

### Pandurii Târgu Jiu

Nistor signed a four-year contract with Liga I team Pandurii Târgu Jiu in the summer of 2010. He played his first match in the top division on 23 July that year, featuring the full 90 minutes in a goalless draw with Unirea Urziceni. On 10 April 2011, he scored his first Liga I goal in a 4–2 home victory over Victoria Brănești.
Nistor made 35 appearances and netted six goals all competition comprised in the 2012–13 season, as Pandurii finished second in the championship and subsequently qualified for the UEFA Europa League. He made his debut in the latter competition on 16 July 2013, in a goalless away draw with Levadia Tallinn in the second qualifying round. His team went further after 4–0 on aggregate, and he recorded his first European goal in a 1–1 draw against Hapoel Tel Aviv on 1 August.

### Evian

In August 2013, amid interest from FC Steaua București, CFR Cluj, and Málaga, Nistor was transferred by French club Evian for a rumoured fee of €800,000. He failed to establish himself as a starter for Les Roses, only amassing six Ligue 1 matches during the first half of the 2013–14 campaign. As a result, Nistor made a controversial statement about Evian's staff, saying that he did not play more because of his nationality.

### Return to Pandurii Târgu Jiu

On 22 January 2014, Nistor was sent on loan to his former team Pandurii Târgu Jiu for a period of five months, which was later extended for the 2014–15 season. In the summer of 2015, after being released by Evian, he again joined the Alb-albaștrii as a free agent.

### Dinamo București

On 31 August 2016, Nistor agreed to a two-year deal with fellow league club Dinamo București. He won his first career trophy on 20 May 2017, after "the Red Dogs" came victorious 2–0 in the Cupa Ligii final against ACS Poli Timișoara.

### CFR Cluj

On 10 July 2017, Nistor moved to CFR Cluj in a swap deal which took Filipe Nascimento in the opposite direction. Under the management of Dan Petrescu, he played 18 games across all competitions without scoring. In January 2018, he publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Petrescu's communication skills and his recent lack of playing time.

### Return to Dinamo București

Nistor terminated his contract with CFR Cluj and rejoined Dinamo București on 13 January 2018. He was assigned the number 10 shirt and played his first match upon return on 4 February, in a 2–2 Liga I draw with Universitatea Craiova.
On 29 July 2018, Nistor scored in a cross-town derby with FCSB, which ended 3–3. The following month, FCSB reportedly made several bids for the transfer of the midfielder; Dinamo however rejected each offer and proceeded in contract extension talks. Nistor registered 13 assists across the 2018–19 league season, the most for a player in the previous ten years, and was named by Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal in the best team of the campaign.

### Universitatea Craiova

On 6 January 2020, Nistor signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Universitatea Craiova for an undisclosed transfer fee. He made his debut on the 31st, in a 3–1 Liga I victory over Gaz Metan Mediaș, and scored his first goals on 4 March in a 2–3 Cupa României loss to Politehnica Iași.
On 23 June 2020, Nistor scored his first goal in the championship for Craiova in a 2–1 home defeat of Botoșani. He then converted the winning penalty in a 2–1 victory over FCSB on 12 July. On 3 August, Nistor opened the scoring in an eventual 1–3 home loss to CFR Cluj in the final fixture; the result meant that Craiova finished second in the table, while his former club won its third title in a row.

### Universitatea Cluj

On 13 February 2023, Nistor moved to Universitatea Cluj, the city rival of his former club CFR Cluj.

## International career

On 4 June 2013, Nistor made his international debut for the Romania national team in a 4–0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. He previously played in two unofficial friendlies against Belgium and Poland, respectively.
His next caps for the nation only came during late 2019 under manager Cosmin Contra, appearing as a substitute in both UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against Norway (1–1 home draw) and Spain (0–5 home loss).

## Personal life

In February 2012, Nistor was caught driving an Audi A5 without a license and fined accordingly.
He has been married since June 2013, with fellow footballer Mihai Pintilii acting as best man. His spouse Cosmina gave birth to a son in April 2017.

## Career statistics
### International

    As of 18 November 2020.
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Romania |
| Romania | 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| Romania | 2019 | 2 | 0 |
| Romania | 2020 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 6 | 0 |

## Honours

Internațional Curtea de Argeș
* Liga III: 2007–08
Pandurii Târgu Jiu
* Cupa Ligii runner-up: 2014–15
Dinamo București
* Cupa Ligii: 2016–17
CFR Cluj
* Liga I: 2017–18
Universitatea Craiova
* Cupa României: 2020–21
* Supercupa României: 2021
Universitatea Cluj
* Cupa României runner-up: 2022–23
Individual
* Liga I Team of the Season: 2018–19, 2019–20
* Gazeta Sporturilor Romania Player of the Month: October 2023