 In 1990, he made his league debut for Universitatea Craiova at the age of 17, in a match against Corvinul Hunedoara.By the end of the season he was loaned to Jiul IELIF Craiova, and returned in the summer of 1991 to U Craiova.In the 1992–93 season he was the team's best player and took third place in the league and his side won the Romanian Cup.