Rareș Ilie

Rareș Andrei Ilie (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈrareʃ anˈdrej iˈli.e]; born 19 April 2003) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie B club Catanzaro, on loan from Ligue 1 club Nice.

Rareș Ilie

Personal information
Full name	Rareș Andrei Ilie
Date of birth	(2003-04-19) 19 April 2003 (age 21)[1]
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania[1]
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	Catanzaro (on loan from Nice)
Number	8
Youth career
0000–2014	CS Cautis Steaua Sudului
2014–2019	ACS Juniorul București
2019–2020	Rapid București
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2020–2022	Rapid București	58	(9)
2022–	Nice	6	(0)
2023	→ Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan)	8	(0)
2023–2024	→ Lausanne-Sport (loan)	29	(3)
2025–	→ Catanzaro (loan)	1	(0)
International career‡
2021	Romania U18	2	(1)
2021–2022	Romania U19	12	(2)
2021–	Romania U21	10	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 February 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2024

Ilie started out as a senior with Rapid București at age 17, amassing over 50 matches in the first two leagues combined before signing for French team Nice in 2022.

At international level, he has represented the under-18, under-19 and under-21 sides of Romania.

Club career

Rapid București

Ilie made his senior debut for Rapid București on 5 September 2020, aged 17, in a 2–1 victory over Pandurii Târgu Jiu in the Liga II championship.^[2] On 19 November that year, he scored his first goal in a 1–0 league win against Universitatea Cluj. Ilie amassed three goals from 22 appearances during his debut season in Bucharest, with "the White-Burgundies" finishing as Liga II runners-up and thus earning direct promotion.

On 18 July 2021, Ilie recorded his professional debut by starting in a 1–0 Liga I defeat of Chindia Târgoviște.^[3] His first goal in the competition came on 19 November, in a 2–2 away draw against the same opponent. Ilie contributed with 38 games and six goals in all competitions during the 2021–22 campaign, being one of the most proficient players of Rapid București.

Nice

On 14 July 2022, Rapid București shareholder Victor Angelescu announced an agreement for the move of Ilie to Ligue 1 club Nice.^[4] The French side officialised his signing three days later,^[5] and press generally reported the transfer fee as €5 million plus bonuses.^[6][7]

Ilie made his debut on 7 August 2022, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Alexis Beka Beka in a 1–1 league draw at Toulouse,^[8] and one week later started in a 1–1 home draw with Strasbourg.^[9] On the 18th, he registered his European debut in a 0–1 away loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round.

Loans to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Lausanne-Sport and Catanzaro loans

On 1 February 2023, Ilie moved to Israeli Premier League team Maccabi Tel Aviv on loan for the remainder the season.^[10] He started in eight league matches and failed to score any goals.

On 20 June 2023, Ilie signed for newly-promoted Swiss Super League club Lausanne-Sport on a season-long loan deal.^[11] On 29 July, he scored his first goal by opening a 1–1 home draw with Grasshoppers.

On 24 January 2025, Ilie signed for Italian Serie B club Catanzaro on a half-season loan deal, with option to make the deal permanent.^[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 February 2025^[13]

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
Rapid București	2020–21	Liga II	22	3	0	0	—		—		23	3
	2021–22	Liga I	36	6	2	0	—		—		38	6
	Total		58	9	2	0	—		—		60	9
Nice	2022–23	Ligue 1	4	0	0	0	4	0	—		8	0
	2024–25	Ligue 1	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	4	0	—		10	0
Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan)	2022–23	Israeli Premier League	8	0	1	0	—		0	0	9	0
Lausanne-Sport (loan)	2023–24	Swiss Super League	29	3	2	1	—		—		31	4
Catanzaro (loan)	2024–25	Serie B	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Career total			102	12	5	1	4	0	—		111	13

References

1. "Profile of Rares Ilie - OGC Nice". OGC Nice. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
2. "Rareș Ilie, pariul de 17 ani al lui Adi Iencsi. Debut cu Pandurii" (in Romanian). Rapid București.
3. "Game report". soccerway (in Romanian). 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
4. "Rareș Ilie pleacă de la Rapid în Ligue 1! Angelescu anunță transferul + ce salariu ar avea în Franța" [Rareș Ilie leaves Rapid for Ligue 1! Angelescu announces the transfer + his salary in France]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
5. "Welcome Rares". OGC Nice. 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
6. "Rareş Ilie a semnat cu Nice" [Rareș Ilie signed with Nice] (in Romanian). Orange Sport. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
7. "EXCLUSIV Nice l-a "suflat" pe Rareș Ilie din mâinile altei echipe din Franța » Dezvăluiri de la negocieri" [EXCLUSIVE Nice "stole" Rareș Ilie from the hands of another French team » Revealings from the negotiations]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 15 July 2022.
8. "Rareș Ilie, debut în Ligue 1 » Cum s-a descurcat fostul rapidist în Toulouse - Nice" [Rareș Ilie, debut in the Ligue 1 » How the former Rapid player did in Toulouse – Nice]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 7 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
9. "Rareș Ilie, peste media echipei! Nota primită de român după primul meci ca titular la Nice în Ligue 1" [Rareș Ilie, above average in his team! The mark received by the Romanian after his first match as a starter for Nice in the Ligue 1] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
10. "Rares Ilie joins Maccabi on loan". Maccabi Tel Aviv. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
11. "RARES ILIE REJOINT LE FC LAUSANNE-SPORT!" [RARES ILIE JOINS FC LAUSANNE-SPORT!]. www.lausanne-sport-ch (in French). 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
12. "IL CENTROCAMPISTA ILIE DAL NIZZA ALL'US CATANZARO". www.uscatanzaro1929.com/ (in Italian). 24 January 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
13. Rareș Ilie at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

External links

• Profile at the OGC Nice website
• Rareș Ilie – Romanian league stats at LPF (archived 2021-07-15) (in Romanian)
• Rareș Ilie – French league stats at Ligue 1 – also available in French (archived)
• Rareș Ilie at Rapid București at the Wayback Machine (archived 2021-10-25) (in Romanian)
• Rareș Ilie – UEFA competition record (archive)