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Denis Alibec (Dobrujan Tatar: DeñÃz Alibek; born 5 January 1991) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I club FCSB and the Romania national team.
Alibec began his senior career at Farul Constanța, and at age 18 was signed by Italian club Inter Milan. He only made two Serie A appearances and was loaned out several times, before being brought back to Romania by Astra Giurgiu. He became a regular starter and goalscorer with the latter, and also aided it in winning its first Liga I in the 2015–16 season. This inspired a move to his former youth team FCSB in 2017, but Alibec transferred back to Astra after only one and a half years. Since 2020, in addition to Romania he has had brief stints in Turkey, Greece, and Qatar.
Internationally, Alibec featured for Romania at under-17, under-19, and under-21 levels, prior to earning his full debut in a 3–0 win over the Faroe Islands in October 2015. He represented the country in two UEFA European Championships, in 2016 and 2024.
Alibec registered his Serie A debut on 21 November 2010, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Jonathan Biabiany in a 1–2 defeat to Chievo Verona. During that period, he was in rich form in the Campionato Primavera Girone B after scoring eight goals in nine games.
On 18 August 2016, Alibec netted the equaliser in a 1–1 Europa League play-off round draw with West Ham United. He went on to make five appearances and score two goals in the group stage of the competition, his notable display throughout 2016 earning him the Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year award.
On 2 August 2017, Alibec netted his first UEFA goal for the Roș-albaștrii in a 4–1 Champions League third qualifying round away win over Viktoria Plzeň. After going twelve matches without scoring in the 2017–18 Liga I, Alibec finally found the net in a 2–1 away victory against Gaz Metan Mediaș on 3 February 2018, although his poor performances continued.
Following his good performances, on 8 March 2023 the club announced that Alibec agreed to a two-year contract extension. He scored his second hat-trick of the season on 6 May, in a 7–2 home win over Rapid București, taking his tally to 14 goals in 30 league matches.
One week later against Universitatea Craiova, Alibec missed a penalty kick, provided an assist and received a straight red card before half-time in an eventual 1–1 draw; he was thus suspended for the last two fixtures against title contenders and his former clubs FCSB and CFR Cluj, respectively. On 21 May 2023, after Farul won 3–2 over FCSB, Alibec became the first player to win the national title with three different teams from outside the Bucharest.
On 3 August 2023, Alibec netted a double in a 3–2 away win over FC Urartu in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.
On 21 December that year, the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper announced that Alibec came third in voting for the 2023 Romanian Footballer of the Year award, representing only his second appearance in top five since his 2016 win.
In June 2016, Alibec was selected by Anghel Iordănescu in his squad for the final tournament in France, and entered as a substitute in the opening 1–2 defeat to the hosts. He then started in the 0–1 loss to Albania on 19 June, which resulted in a group-stage exit. Alibec appeared sparringly for the national team in the following years, and only scored his first official goal in a 3–2 Nations League away win over Austria, on 7 September 2020.
In the Euro 2024 qualifiers, Alibec totalled nine games and scored three goals, including one in the final 1–0 victory over Switzerland. Romania finished its group unbeaten and qualified from the first place. On 7 June 2024, Alibec was named in the squad for the Euro 2024. He only made two substitute appearances, as Romania topped its group but was eliminated by the Netherlands in the round of 16.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Farul Constanța | 2008–09 | Liga I | 2 |
| Inter Milan | 2010–11 | Serie A | 0 |
| KV Mechelen (loan) | 2011–12 | Belgian Pro League | 0 |
| Viitorul Constanța (loan) | 2012–13 | Liga I | 5 |
| Bologna (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie A | 0 |
| Astra Giurgiu | 2013–14 | Liga I | 5 |
| 2014–15 | Liga I | 10 | |
| 2015–16 | Liga I | 20 | |
| 2016–17 | Liga I | 7 | |
| FCSB | 2016–17 | Liga I | 9 |
| 2017–18 | Liga I | 3 | |
| Astra Giurgiu | 2018–19 | Liga I | 7 |
| 2019–20 | Liga I | 14 | |
| 2020–21 | Liga I | 1 | |
| Kayserispor | 2020–21 | Süper Lig | 3 |
| CFR Cluj (loan) | 2021–22 | Liga I | 2 |
| Atromitos (loan) | 2021–22 | Super League Greece | 2 |
| Farul Constanța | 2022–23 | Liga I | 14 |
| 2023–24 | Liga I | 3 | |
| Muaither SC | 2023–24 | Qatar Stars League | 8 |
| Farul Constanța | 2024–25 | Liga I | 10 |
| FCSB | 2025–26 | Liga I | 0 |
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year |
| Romania |
| 0 |
| 1 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 1 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 3 |
| 0 |
| 1 |
| + List of international goals scored by Denis Alibec | |
| 1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
| 3 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualification |
| 4 | 1–1 |
| 5 | 1–0 |
| 6 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
CFR Cluj
Individual
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