Stefan Chirila has had a quick rise to notoriety in the public consciousness since his arrival at FC Cincinnati. He joined the club from the Philadelphia Union Academy, where he felt he had stalled in terms of his career progress, in part by his position and being blocked by other prospects, and was quickly identified as a player who may see a benefit from a position change.
He moved from a midfielder to a striker, tore up the MLS NEXT and MLS NEXT Pro scene and earned himself a first team contract. Said contract began as an MLS NEXT Pro deal in 2024 with the agreement to evolve into a first team contract in 2025, so now as preseason begins the 19-year-old Romanian-American striker joins FC Cincinnati in preseason for the first time looking to continue his journey.
Now he has joined the squad, and in his first preseason with the club the young forward is looking to start his journey, rather than pretend he’s already arrived.
“The first step is just being on the roster. Next is, is actually ‘making it,’” Chirila said in a sit down with FCCincinnati.com. “Making my debuts with the first team, earning a spot. I mean, I'm super excited to start this new chapter but this is just the beginning. The work starts now.”
As a young player it's hard to set expectations for what Chirila could provide to the first team on the field in 2025. He is still early in his development and the expectation is that while he will contribute to the first team at his own pace, he will still have a role to play with FC Cincinnati 2. But he is a first team player, so the standard of training has elevated.
But Chirila says the broader conversations with his coaches surrounding his goals and focuses going into his first camp are more general.
“They just told me to work hard every day and go at it with a positive attitude,” Chirila said. “Just make sure I give them my all every day in training, to listen and learn, and we can see from there where it goes.”
“I’m also just trying to integrate myself into the team and give it my all to become part of the team. I know I’m young, but I want to be a guy my teammates can trust. So I just want to become part of the team.”
Chirila’s teammates have given positive feedback to this writer on both the quality and effort the forward has displayed since the year has kicked off; with veteran players highlighting his demeanor, competitive fire, and desire to learn from anyone who will teach him.
“I'm confident. I'm confident in myself, and I think I can definitely compete, and, you know, we'll see where that takes me. But I have lots of stuff I need to improve on,” Chirila explained. “I think once I start training consistently with (the first team) it will help. I need to speed up my decision making, up the intensity, things like that. So, I need to get used to that, and I'm confident in myself but if you have all these great players around you to learn from, why wouldn’t you want to learn?”
At 19, Chirila has already represented the United States and Romania at the Youth National Team level. An impressive feat for any young player, but even more so for a person who so recently changed positions. Raised in a family proud of their Romanian heritage and says it’s an honor to have been able to represent both but is, at this point, unsure of where his future international status would take him if the opportunity ever arose.
As a striker now, Chirila has made an effort to bring the skills he was learning and focusing on as a midfielder and find a way to utilize them while also developing more forward oriented skills in a real way.
An example he uses is that as a midfielder he was training to dribble and control the ball under pressure, so learning how to translate that to skills in the box or in hold up play has helped him be successful in some situations early. The same goes with passing or defensive pressing instincts. These don’t make him an out and out great striker, but being a more complete player helps him stand out.
But developing new skills, beyond his natural predilection for goal scoring, is where he’s still working to develop.
“You always work on your finishing every day. It can never be enough because you can always get it better,” Chirila said. “My physicality is also something I definitely want to get stronger in as well, going up against bigger guys now. I feel like I can compete, but I need to battle with these guys.”
As Chirila enters his first preseason camp with FC Cincinnati though, he has some familiar faces to help him along and for him to help along. With some FC Cincinnati 2 teammates also being invited to camp for periods of time, his younger brother, Andrei Chirila, has joined the first team and started to make a name for himself.
Andrei, 16, is a center back who has played extended minutes with first team players in each of the three preseason friendlies thus far and has been a part of every first team training since the club arrived in Clearwater, Florida. Like his brother, Andrei joined the FC Cincinnati Academy after a stint with Philadelphia Union and followed his brother to The Orange and Blue. While with Philly, Andrei also had a USYNT call-up with the U15s and began making a name for himself that way. Now, he is signed to an MLS NEXT Pro deal and will look to be a vital part of FC Cincinnati 2.
With both on pro contracts, Andrei has moved in with his older brother and the two are working to fulfill their dreams together.
“It's super cool, especially since now he lives with me. It just makes everything so much nicer, more comfortable,” Stefan said. “It's nice having him.”
“It's definitely great. We never really got to play that much together growing up,” Andrei said after a preseason friendly with his former club where he assisted on the fourth and final goal of a 4-1 victory last Friday. “This is it. It's a dream to play with my family on the same field. It feels great.”
The story of the Chirila brothers is just getting started, but it’s an exciting time to see these two grow.
