| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Valentin Ionuț Lemnaru | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-06-24)24 June 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Lehliu Gară, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Victoria Lehliu | |||
| 1998–2001 | Sportul Studențesc București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2005 | Politehnica Timișoara | 12 | (4) |
| 2005–2006 | Dunărea Călărași | 34 | (12) |
| 2006–2009 | Dinamo București | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2009 | Dinamo II București | 75[1] | (45) |
| 2009 | →Astra Ploiești (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 2009–2010 | Universitatea Cluj | 37 | (16) |
| 2011–2013 | Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 71 | (14) |
| 2013–2014 | Universitatea Cluj | 28 | (13) |
| 2014 | Steaua București | 0 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Universitatea Cluj | 19 | (3) |
| 2015–2016 | Petrolul Ploiești | 7 | (1) |
| 2016 | East Riffa | 0 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Academica Clinceni | 11 | (0) |
| 2017 | Târgu Mureș | 7 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Universitatea Cluj | 19 | (7) |
| 2018–2019 | Sticla Arieșul Turda | 26 | (11) |
| 2019 | Unirea Dej | 7 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Sticla Arieșul Turda | 18 | (3) |
| 2021–2023 | Sănătatea Cluj | 19 | (1) |
| Total | 402 | (132) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021 | Sticla Arieșul Turda (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2023 | Sănătatea Cluj (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11:06, 24 November 2023 (UTC) | |||
Valentin Ionuț Lemnaru (born 24 June 1984) is a Romanian formerfootballer who played as aforward.[2] He played inLiga I forPolitehnica Timișoara,Pandurii Târgu Jiu,Petrolul Ploiești andUniversitatea Cluj.
Lemnaru started playing football as agoalkeeper at the age of eight at his home town team, Victoria Lehliu. When he was fourteen, he went toSportul Studenţesc and decided to play as aforward because he was too short to be agoalkeeper.[3]
Lemnaru leftSportul Studenţesc to joinPolitehnica Timișoara in 2001. In 2003, due to salary issues, he refused to play forPolitehnica Timișoara and he was suspended by the team owner, Claudio Zambon, for almost two years. During the suspension he worked at theA2 motorway (Romania). In 2005, with the help ofLehliu's mayor, who paid Zambon the player's transfer fee, Lemnaru returned to his home town team and he was soon transferred toDunărea Călărași.[4]
In 2006 Lemnaru joinedDinamo București.[5] He played mostly for the reserves team of the club but he made one appearance at the first team with whom he won the2006–07 Liga I title. In January 2009 he was loaned toAstra Ploieşti and later that year Lemnaru was transferred by the second league teamUniversitatea Cluj. He scored 16 goals forUniversitatea Cluj in one and a half seasons and after the team promoted inLiga I, the striker was loaned toPandurii Târgu Jiu.[6]
Later he was definitively transferred toPandurii Târgu Jiu where he played until September 2013, scoring 15 goals in 71 matches. WithPandurii he managed to finish the2012–13 Liga I season on the second place, thus leading to the2013–14 UEFA Europa League qualification.
Lemnaru returned atUniversitatea Cluj for whom he scored 13 goals in the2013–14 Liga I season. He had a significant contribution to saving the team from relegation, being the top scorer ofUniversitatea Cluj[7] and the second highest scorer of2013–14 Liga I season. Rumors appeared that Lemnaru could be called to play for theRomania national football team,[8] or theMoldova national football team[9] but none were concretized.
In July 2014, Lemnaru signed a contract for two years with the Romanian championsSteaua București.[10] He made his debut for Steaua in aUEFA Champions League game againstFC Aktobe.[11] But this remained his only game for Steaua, and in September 2014 he was sold back to Universitatea Cluj where he signed a two-year deal.[12]
Individual