[2][3] He did not feature in any senior games in the next season as Viitorul won the first league title in its history, but started appearing frequently for the side since the summer of 2017.

On 24 August that year, Băluță recorded his European debut in a UEFA Europa League play-off round 0–4 loss to Red Bull Salzburg.

[9][10] Băluță made his debut for the Sussex club in the EFL Cup playing the whole match in the 3–1 home defeat to Aston Villa on 25 September.

[19] Băluță earned his first senior cap for Romania on 31 May 2018, coming on as a 71st-minute substitute for his former Viitorul Constanța teammate Dragoș Nedelcu in a 3–2 friendly victory over Chile.

[3] He has been likened to former Romanian international and Barcelona captain Gheorghe Popescu, also a native of Dolj County, who in his turn described Băluță as an "intelligent player" with "exceptional qualities".