Dennis-Dorian Politic (born 5 March 2000) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for  club Port Vale, on loan from  club Bolton Wanderers.
A former Romania U17 international, he moved to Manchester United from Romanian club Brașov in 2012 at the age of 12.
He joined Bolton Wanderers three years later and turned professional with Bolton in 2018.
He spent much of the 2018–19 season on loan at Salford City and played 30 games for Bolton in the 2019–20 season, scoring five goals, before missing the entirety of the 2020–21 campaign with a serious knee injury.
He joined Port Vale on loan for the 2021–22 season.
Career
Early career
Born in Brașov, Politic began his career with FC Brașov before joining Manchester United in August 2012, aged 12.
In October 2016, he was capped three times for the Romania U17s in qualification games for the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, in defeats to Austria, England and Azerbaijan at Stadionul CNAF; he missed a penalty against England.
Bolton Wanderers
Politic joined Bolton Wanderers at the age of 15, where he scored hat-tricks in consecutive games for the under-19s in September and October 2017.
He signed his first professional contract with the club in summer 2018, and on 26 October that year he was loaned to Salford City of the National League until the new year.
He made his senior debut the next day in a 1–1 draw with Ebbsfleet United at Moor Lane, as a 69th-minute substitute for Tom Walker, earning praise from manager Graham Alexander for his impact.
He scored his first goal on 1 December as an early substitute in a 3–0 home win against Havant & Waterlooville.
He totalled 13 appearances for the Ammies and scored once more on 16 February 2019, opening a 3–1 home loss to Dover Athletic.
The long-range strike was likened to one scored by Salford co-owner David Beckham in 1996; Beckham was in attendance at the match.
A shoulder injury caused him to miss out on Salford's successful promotion push that took them into the English Football League at the end of the 2018–19 season.
On 3 August 2019, Politic made his Bolton debut by playing the full 90 minutes in their opening game of the League One season, a 2–0 loss at Wycombe Wanderers; the Trotters team had an unfamiliar line-up due to a financial crisis.
Ten days later he scored his first goal for the club, in a 5–2 loss at Rochdale in the first round of the EFL Cup.
On 1 January 2020, he came on in the 76th-minute for Joe Dodoo and eight minutes later scored his first league goal in a 4–3 loss to Burton Albion at the University of Bolton Stadium.
Later that month he signed a contract extension to keep him at Bolton until 2022, after which manager Keith Hill praised him for continuing to work hard.
On 11 August 2020, in a 6–0 pre-season victory against Loughborough University, Politic damaged his anterior cruciate ligament following a slip on the pitch and was ruled out for the whole of the 2020–21 season after undergoing a "pretty straightforward operation".
He returned to training in April 2021, though manager Ian Evatt decided against playing him in the final few matches of the season, stating it was too risky to do so and would instead wait until the 2021–22 season.
On 16 August 2021, Politic joined League Two club Port Vale on loan for the 2021–22 season, to allow him to regain his prior fitness and develop as a player having missed the entire previous season through injury.
Bolton have the option to recall him in JanuaryThe Bolton News: "Why Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt could recall Dennis Politic in January" and also offered him a new contract though he did not sign it.
Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke said that he had wanted an aggressive ball-carrying wide player and "he fits the criteria massively" despite being right-footed as that "in an ideal world I’d have gotten a left-footed one" He remained a unused substitute in the early stages of the season as Clarke used a 3–5–2 formation, but he did score a brace in a friendly game.
He finally made his competitive debut for the "Valiants" on 2 October, coming on against Leyton Orient as a substitute with three minutes remaining, during which he scored the equalising goal as his team went on to win the game 3–2.
On 4 December, he scored his first career FA Cup goals; after coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute for David Amoo, Politic scored the equaliser and winner to secure a 2–1 victory over Burton Albion.
Bolton manager Ian Evatt stated later that week that he would not be recalling Politic in January as he had not played enough for Port Vale to justify bringing him back, feeling that if he failed to get into a League Two team regularly, he should not get into a League One team either.The Bolton News: "Ian Evatt explains why Bolton Wanderers will not recall Dennis Politic from Port Vale" Style of play
Politic is a technically-gifted midfielder with an excellent first touch and ability to score long-range goals.
Bolton manager Phil Parkinson described him as a "creative maverick".
Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
References
