Costel Pantilimon Biography (born 1 February 1987 in Bacău) is a Romanian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper currently signed by Premier League club Manchester City, pending the approval of a UK work-permit. He had previously been tracked by Arsenal, Internazionale, Schalke 04 and Udinese
Early career
Pantilimon started his career at Aerostar Bacău and got his share of limelight at the Romania national under-19 football team before transferring to Timişoara on 1 February 2006, his nineteenth birthday.
Initially Pantilimon was Timişoara's second-choice goalkeeper, behind Marius Popa; however, in May 2008 the owner of the club, Marian Iancu, transferred Popa to the second team, and Pantilimon took the pole position.[4] He made his debut in the Romanian Liga 1 against Dinamo Bucharest, in March 2007.
In a match against Ceahlăul on 17 October 2009 he captained the team for the first time, since Dan Alexa, Gigel Bucur and the Karamyan brothers were all on the bench.
Pantilimon was part of the Timişoara team that defeated UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk in the qualifying rounds of the 2009–10 Champions League campaign. He played all 90 minutes of each leg.
Manchester City
On 5 August 2011, the 24-year-old goalkeeper joined Manchester City from Poli Timişoara to act as cover for Joe Hart following the departure of Shay Given.International career
Pantilimon is a former Romania under-21 international. He made his debut for the Senior National side on 19 November 2008, in a friendly against Georgia. On 9 October 2010, he made the match of his career against France on Stade de France. However, France won 2–0 but Pantilimon was selected the man of the match.
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