Andrei Bani

Romanian footballer (born 2002)

Andrei Bani
Personal information
Full name Andrei Ahmed Bani Mustafa
Date of birth (2002-08-22) 22 August 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth Jerash, Jordan
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
 Dinamo București
Number 22
Youth career
2012–2015 Pro Luceafărul București
2015–2020 Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Dinamo București 107 (10)
International career‡
2018 Romania U16 5 (0)
2018–2019 Romania U17 10 (1)
2019–2020 Romania U18 7 (1)
2021–2023 Romania U20 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 August 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 March 2023

Andrei Ahmed Bani Mustafa (Arabic: أندري بني مصطفى; born 22 August 2002) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Liga I club Dinamo București.

Club career

Bani joined the youth setup of Dinamo București in 2015, having previously played for Pro Luceafărul București.

He made his professional debut for Dinamo on 23 February 2020, aged 17, in a 0–1 Liga I loss to Gaz Metan Mediaș. On 5 July that year, Bani scored his first goal in a 3–1 away win over Academica Clinceni.[1]

With Romanian Liga I clubs obliged to field a player eligible for the Under-21 team, Bani made 7 appearances for the first team during the 2019-20 season and 17 appearances during the 2020-21 season, including 6 as a starter.[2] He played 28 times for the team, mostly as a substitute, during the 2021-22 season, which marked the first relegation in club history.

Playing for Dinamo in Liga II during the 2022-23 season, under manager Ovidiu Burcă, Bani became one of the leaders of the team. He started 24 league games and made a total of 34 appearances, scoring 7 goals and producing 12 assists. The highlights of his season were the 6-0 victory against Unirea Constanța, when he scored once and produced 2 assists,[3] and the play-off group game against FC Buzău, when he contributed with a goal and an assist to an important 2-2 away draw.[4] At the end of the season, Dinamo won promotion back to Liga I.

Bani started the 2023-24 Liga I season as a regular starter for Dinamo, still eligible for the Under-21 rule. On 19 August 2023, he produced an assist for Cristian Costin in the 3-2 away win against FC Voluntari.[5] On 29 August, he came on as a substitute for Antonio Bordușanu in the Romanian Cup game against Metaloglobus and he scored twice, bringing Dinamo a last minute 2-1 victory.[6] After the arrival of new players and of manager Željko Kopić during the season, Bani lost his place in the first team, but made regular appearances as a substitute. With Dinamo playing in the Liga I relegation group, on 14 April 2024 Bani came on as a substitute for Darko Velkovski in the 82nd minute of the home game against Poli Iași, and he scored in the added time to bring his team a 1-0 victory.[7] As several important players were injured, Bani was back in the first team for the last games of the season. On 4 May, he scored once and assisted Domagoj Pavičić in the 3-3 away draw against Universitatea Cluj.[8] For this performance, he was named Man of the Match[9] and in the Liga I Team of the Week.[10] He also played in the two legs of the relegation play-off against Csíkszereda, producing an assist for Dennis Politic in the 2-0 victory[11] that kept Dinamo in Liga I.

In the first games of the 2024-25 Liga I season, Bani made some impressive appearances as a substitute. On 27 July 2024, he came on in the 62nd minute of the away game against Sepsi and he assisted Petru Neagu in a 1-1 draw.[12] In the following week, he produced another assist, for Dennis Politic, in a 4-1 home win against FC Buzău, after entering the game in the 58th minute.[13] These good performances brought him back in the first team. On 24 August, he scored in the first minute of the 2-1 home victory against CS Universitatea Craiova, being selected in the Liga I Team of the Week.[14]

Personal life

Bani was born in Jerash, Jordan, to a Romanian mother and a father from Jordan.[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 28 August 2024[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dinamo București 2019–20 Liga I 6 1 1 0 — — 7 1
2020–21 Liga I 14 0 3 0 — — 17 0
2021–22 Liga I 26 0 1 0 — 1[a] 0 28 0
2022–23 Liga II 28 6 5 1 — 1[a] 0 34 7
2023–24 Liga I 27 2 3 2 — 2[a] 0 32 4
2024–25 Liga I 6 1 1 0 — — 7 1
Career total 107 10 14 3 — 4 0 125 13
  1. ^ a b c Appearance in Liga I promotion/relegation play-offs

References

  1. ^ "Lui Ahmed Bani îi priesc meciurile cu Academica. A marcat un singur gol pentru Dinamo chiar împotriva Clinceniului" [Ahmed Bani likes the matches against Academica. He only score one goal for Dinamo right against Clinceni] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  2. ^ "A. Bani Profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Dinamo București vs. Unirea Constanța 6-0". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  4. ^ "AS FC Buzău vs. Dinamo București 2-2". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Voluntari vs. Dinamo București 2-3". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Metaloglobus vs. Dinamo București 1-2". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Dinamo București vs. Politehnica Iași 1-0". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Universitatea Cluj vs. Dinamo București 3-3". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Vedetele etapei a 8-a play off-out" (in Romanian). lpf.ro. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Echipa etapei a 8-a play off-out" (in Romanian). lpf.ro. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Dinamo București vs. Csikszereda 2-0". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Sepsi vs. Dinamo București 1-1". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Dinamo București vs. AS FC Buzău 4-1". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Echipa etapei a 7-a" (in Romanian). lpf.ro. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Nu doar FC Voluntari l-a vrut pe Ahmed Bani, de la Dinamo: "Și CFR Cluj s-a interesat de el"" [Not only FC Voluntari wanted Ahmed Bani, from Dinamo: "CFR Cluj also asked about him"] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  16. ^ Andrei Bani at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
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FC Dinamo București – current squad