Daniel Gabriel Pancu (; born 17 August 1977) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club CFR Cluj.
Pancu began his playing career at Politehnica IaÃÂi. He made his debut in Divizia A in 1995. In the winter of 1996 he was transferred to Rapid BucureÃÂti for the sum of US$200,000. This was, at that time, the highest fee ever paid for a IaÃÂi player. After two and a half seasons, he moved to A.C. Cesena, in the Italian Serie B, for US$1,200,000. After a year, Cesena was relegated from the Serie B and Pancu returned to Rapid for US$800,000, where he stayed for two seasons. During this tenure he gained the nickname "the GiuleÃÂti Ronaldo".
In 2002, he was bought by Beà Âiktaà Â, at the request of the manager who discovered him, Mircea Lucescu, for a fee of US$2,250,000. It was at Beà Âiktaà  that Lucescu turned Pancu from striker into central midfielder with impressive results. In the winter of 2005/2006, he returned to Rapid on loan with the possibility of becoming a permanent transfer in the summer. He was then bought by Bursaspor, but returned to Rapid again in the spring of 2008, scoring on his first appearance. In July 2008 he moved to FC Terek Grozny and left the club on 30 November 2009.
On 11 December 2009, it was announced in the Bulgarian media that CSKA Sofia had an interest in signing the midfielder. On 12 January 2010, CSKA signed Pancu on a one-a-half-year deal. Pancu made his official debut for CSKA Sofia in the 3âÂÂ2 win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Sofia, again scoring on his debut.
After a short spell in Bulgaria at CSKA Sofia, Pancu returned to Romanian football later in 2010 to play for FC Vaslui, but had a difficult time breaking into the first eleven with strong competition from Wesley and Mike Temwanjera. During the summer transfer window of 2011 he re-signed yet again for Rapid BucureÃÂti.
On the 28th gameweek of the 2004/05 Süper Lig season, during a derby match against Fenerbahçe, with the score at 2âÂÂ3, Pancu replaced ÃÂscar Córdoba, after the goalkeeper received a red card and Beà Âiktaà  had already used all their substitutes. After conceding a penalty, Pancu kept Fenerbahçe at bay until Koray scored the fourth goal for Beà Âiktaà  in the fifth minute of added time. Beà Âiktaà  thus sealed a sensational away win over their rivals at Kadiköy Stadium. Pancu was given the nickname "Kadñköy Panteri" (the panther of Kadñköy) and dressed in a regular goalkeeper's jersey with the number "1" the following season. He later stated that he felt uncomfortable being labelled as a goalkeeper, as his native playing position was a forward.
On 2 October 2018, Daniel Pancu was appointed as RapidâÂÂs new manager. He obtained the promotion from Liga III to Liga II after losing only 1 game. In 2020, he was named President of Rapid BucureÃÂti.
Rapid BucureÃÂti
Beà Âiktaà Â
Rapid BucureÃÂti