Cristian Chivu

Cristian Chivu
Chivu in a charity match in 2018
Personal information
Full name Cristian Eugen Chivu
Date of birth (1980-10-26) 26 October 1980
Place of birth Reșița, Romania
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Left-back, centre-back
Team information
Current team
Inter Milan (head coach)
Youth career
1991–1997 CSM Reșița
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 CSM Reșița 24 (2)
1998–1999 Universitatea Craiova 32 (3)
1999–2003 Ajax 107 (13)
2003–2007 Roma 85 (6)
2007–2014 Inter Milan 115 (3)
Total 363 (27)
International career
1997–1998 Romania U18 12 (1)
1998–2000 Romania U21 13 (0)
1999–2011 Romania 75 (3)
Managerial career
2018–2019 Inter Milan U14
2019–2020 Inter Milan U17
2020–2021 Inter Milan U18
2021–2024 Inter Milan U19
2025 Parma
2025– Inter Milan
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cristian Eugen Chivu (Romanian pronunciation: [kristiˈan e.uˈdʒen ˈkivu]; born 26 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who is the current head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan.

A defender, he began his career with hometown club CSM Reșița before moving to Universitatea Craiova in 1998, leaving Romania to join Dutch club Ajax a season later. His performances as the captain of Ajax inspired an 18 million transfer to Roma in 2003. Chivu won the Coppa Italia in his last of four seasons in Rome before a transfer to Inter Milan, where he spent the rest of his career before retiring in 2014. After recovering from a fractured skull, Chivu wore a distinctive protective headgear from 2010 onwards. His honours at Inter included a treble of the Italian league, domestic cup, and the UEFA Champions League in 2010.

Chivu earned 75 international caps for Romania between 1999 and 2010 and was part of the squads for UEFA European Championships in 2000 and 2008. After retiring, he became a football pundit for Italian television stations Sky Sport and Fox Sports. He was also a technical observer for UEFA.

He started his coaching career at Inter Milan's youth teams before being appointed as manager of Parma in February 2025.