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Cristian Eugen Chivu (pronounced [krisˈtjan ˈkivu]) (born October 26, 1980 in Reşiţa, Romania) is a Romanian footballer. He is the captain of the Romanian national team and currently plays with Inter Milan.

His first professional club was CSM Reşiţa. After moving to Universitatea Craiova his reputation began to rise and his performances sparked interest from some larger clubs outside of Romania. Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam was particularly impressed and recruited him in 1999. In the same year, he was chosen to represent the Romanian Under-20 team.

At Ajax he developed a reputation as a reliable fullback. Then-manager Ronald Koeman appointed him as captain of the club. With Chivu as captain, Ajax dominated the Dutch Eredivisie with an exciting young squad. Playing alongside Chivu were future stars such as Rafael van der Vaart, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Ahmed Hossam Mido, and Andy van der Meyde. Chivu played a pivotal role for Ajax in their Champions League run in the 2002/03 season, when they came to within a minute of the semi-finals.

Roma first expressed their interest in Chivu in 2003. At the time, Roma had an enormous debt and there were questions raised over Roma's ability to pay any proposed fee. Seeking to silence the increasing doubt over their financial situation, Roma sought a bank guarantee, which was subsequently denied. However, after much speculation Roma finally completed the purchase of Chivu, ending the long and protracted saga. The fee has been reported at €18m.

Chivu has played for Romania more than 50 times, and he is currently captain of his country. He played for Romania in Euro 2000, but the eastern-European country has failed to qualify for any major tournaments since then. Chivu's skill from set-pieces has added another dimension to his already well-rounded game. He has scored a number of free-kicks for both Ajax and Roma and with his deft left-foot shots as he continues to enhance his reputation as one of the finest defenders in Italy.

Manager of the Romanian national football team, Victor Piturca, recently declared in a talk show that Chivu and his friend, goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont, are smokers despite the fact that they are professional football players.

After almost two months of speculations, Chivu signed a 5-year contract with Inter Milan on July 27, 2007. The transfer fee is estimated to be €16 million. As part of the deal, defender Marco Andreolli moved to A.S. Roma in a co-ownership deal.^[1]

Chivu can speak Italian, Dutch and English as well as his native Romanian.^{[citation needed]}

• Cristian Chivu's official website
• Inter.it profile
• FootballDatabase provides Cristian Chivu's profile and stats
• Goal.com profile

Awards
Preceded by Johann Vogel	Dutch Golden Shoe Winner 2002	Succeeded by Dirk Kuijt