Cristian Chivu, Romania footballer: Profile, Career, News & Videos

Cristian Chivu is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who is the 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 the 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. In June 2025, he was appointed as the head coach of Inter Milan, where in his debut season he won a domestic double of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia.