Ianis Zicu was born on 23 October 1983 in
Constanța, Romania, starting to play football at the youth center of local club
Farul, under the guidance of coach
Iosif Bükössy.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In 2000, Zicu went to play for
Dinamo București, making his
Divizia A debut under coach
Cornel Dinu on 14 April 2001, at the age of 17 in a 4–2 win over
Gaz Metan Mediaș, scoring his first goal in a 4–3 loss to
Astra Ploiești in the same season, at the end of which he won the first trophy of his career, being sent by Dinu in the 90th minute in order to replace
Marius Niculae in the 4–2 victory against
Rocar București from the
2001 Cupa României final.[1][4][7] In the
following season, Zicu helped the team win the title by scoring two goals in the 16 appearances given to him by coaches Dinu and
Marin Ion, while also playing a few games in
Divizia B for the club's then satellite team,
Poiana Câmpina and he made his debut in European competitions when he replaced
Claudiu Niculescu in the 63rd minute of a 3–1 home loss in front of
Grasshopper Zürich from the first round of the
2001–02 UEFA Cup.[1][4][8][9][10] He returned at
Farul to play in the
2002–03 Divizia A season, being loaned by Dinamo so he would have the chance to play more and gain experience.[1][3][11] He returned to The Red Dogs for the first half of the
2003–04 season, having a good performance by scoring 6 goals in the 13 league matches coach
Ioan Andone used him, also helping the team eliminate
Liepājas Metalurgs and
Shakhtar Donetsk in the
UEFA Cup by scoring his first two goals in European competitions against each of them, then transferring in the middle of the season at
Inter Milan, but Dinamo still managed to win the
Double at the end of the season without him.[1][4][8][12][13]
Inter Milan and loans
In January 2004 Zicu joined
Inter Milan from Dinamo for €2.5 million, but the club immediately loaned him to
Parma, as part of the
Adriano Leite Ribeiro deal.[1][2][14][15][16][17] He made his
Serie A debut for The Crusaders under coach
Cesare Prandelli on 21 February 2004 in a 2–1 win against
Sampdoria, making a total of seven appearances in the competition by the end of the season.[1][14][18] In the next season, as Prandelli left the club, Zicu was used rarely, but one of his appearances was in the group stage of the
2004–05 UEFA Cup in a 1–0 victory against
Steaua București, then leaving in the middle of the season to go on loan at Dinamo for one year and a half.[1][2][14][19][20][21]
Upon his return, Zicu helped The Red Dogs win the
2004–05 Cupa României, being sent on the field by
Ioan Andone in the 56th minute to replace
Ovidiu Burcă in the 1–0 victory against
Farul from the
final.[1][2][22] He started the
following season by coming as a substitute to replace
Vlad Munteanu in the 69th minute of the 3–2 victory against
rivalsSteaua which helped the team earn for the first time in its history the
Supercupa României, also Andone used him in the
2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when team reached the group stage after eliminating
Omonia Nicosia against whom he scored a brace in the first leg and
Everton against whom he scored a goal in a historical 5–2 on aggregate, after which the British newspaper Daily Mirror wrote about Zicu:"There is no doubt. The Romanian has class".[1][4][23][24][25][26] In August 2005, Zicu gained negative attention upon himself when during a 1–0 loss in front of Farul, in the 22nd minute of the game, after he got pass the goalkeeper and was alone in central position, without any opponents, he missed, kicking the ball beyond the goalpost, saying after the game:"I lost the match. It's my fault and I take full responsibility. I don't know if I'll have nightmares, but I'll definitely think a lot about this miss".[27][28][29][30]
Freed from his contract with
Inter Milan, Zicu returned to
Dinamo București, signing a four-year contract with the champions of the last season, being wanted by coach
Mircea Rednic, with the objective of reaching the
Champions League group stage, but in the 6th minute of the first leg from the third qualifying round against
Lazio Roma, he left the field after getting his right knee injured by
Guglielmo Stendardo, also the team did not qualify, losing with 4–2 on aggregate.[2][31][37][38][39][40][41] The injury kept him off the field for six months, returning to the field in February 2009 but in April the same year he got injured again in a 4–4 with
Universitatea Craiova, this time spending 11 months off the field.[42][43] During the period in between the two injuries he also played for the team's satellite,
Dinamo II in the
second league, scoring a spectacular goal by kicking the ball with the heel over the goalkeeper after receiving a 60 meters pass in a 5–2 loss against
FC Botoșani, which gained attention including from the Italian press, Corriere dello Sport writing:"What a great goal the former Inter player scored".[44][45][46] In his last season spent at the club he helped them fulfill "The wonder from
Liberec" after winning with 3–0 the away game against
Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the
2009–10 Europa League.[1][47]
Politehnica Timișoara
On 21 July 2010, Zicu signed a five-year contract with
Politehnica Timișoara who paid 300.000€ to
Dinamo for his transfer.[48][49][50][51] He made his debut for the team in the second leg from the third qualifying round of the
2010–11 Europa League against
MyPa, scoring his side's second goal in the 80th minute as MyPa were leading 3–0 at half time, completing an amazing comeback in the second half after
Marián Čišovský equalized in the 90+2 minute and as in the first leg Politehnica won with 2–1, they qualified to the competition's play-offs where they were eliminated by
Manchester City.[52][53][54][55] Zicu had the most prolific season of his career, being the top-goalscorer of the season as he scored a personal record of 18 goals in the league, including three braces in three victories against
Rapid București,
FCM Târgu Mureș and
Gaz Metan Mediaș, also the team finished the season on the second position.[1][3][4][56][57][58][59][60][61][62]
CSKA Sofia
On 16 June 2011, Zicu moved abroad to sign with Bulgarian club
CSKA Sofia for 3 years.[63][64] On 30 July he made his competitive debut for CSKA under coach
Milen Radukanov in the
Bulgarian Supercup against
Litex Lovech, scoring from a penalty to make the result 2–1 for CSKA, the match ending with a 3–1 victory, thus winning the trophy.[65][66][67] In August he played in both legs of the
Europa League play-off for the group stage against
Steaua București, losing with 3–1 on aggregate.[68][69] On 28 October, Zicu scored the only goal in the
Eternal derby of Bulgaria to help CSKA earn a 1–0 home win over
Levski Sofia, then he scored a
hat-trick on 12 November in a 3–1 home win over
Minyor Pernik, finishing the first half of the
2011–12 A PFG season as the top scorer of the league, having netted 13 times in total, forming a couple in the team's offence with
Júnior Moraes.[4][70][71][72][73][74]
Pohang Steelers
In late December 2011, it was revealed that Zicu had been transferred to
South Korean club
Pohang Steelers, signing a two-year deal with an option for a fourth year (a two-year extension) for an undisclosed fee, though media reports estimated it to be €2.3 million.[75][76][77][78] He made his official debut as a starter on 18 February 2012 in the 2–0 win over
Thai club
Chonburi in an
AFC Champions League play-off match which helped them advance to the group stage where he made three more appearances without scoring.[1][79][80] Zicu scored his first goal for the team on 11 March 2012, in the 1–1 away draw with
Gwangju in a
K-League game, then one week later he scored a brace in a 2–2 in front of
Busan IPark, gaining a total of 6 goals in 15 league appearances for Pohang, also winning the
2012 Korean FA Cup with them.[1][3][81][82][83]
Gangwon
On 24 July 2012, he agreed to join the
K League side
Gangwon on a 6-month loan deal until the end of the
2012 season, a period in which he scored 9 goals in 17
K-League appearances, including a
hat-trick in a 5–3 away loss in front of
Daejeon Citizen.[1][84][85] In January 2013, Zicu was transferred definitely to Gangwon, scoring 6 goals in 27 matches for the team in the
2013 K League season.[1][86]
Petrolul Ploiești
In January 2014, Zicu signed a contract for one year and a half with
Petrolul Ploiești, after
Adrian Mutu signed one day before with the club, being wanted there by coach
Cosmin Contra whom he previously had as teammate and coach at
Politehnica Timișoara.[87][88][89][90][91] After only half of year in which he did not succeed to score or provide assists, he and the club mutually agreed to terminate his contract.[1][87][92]
ASA Târgu Mureș
In July 2014, Zicu moved to the newly promoted
ASA Târgu Mureș, where he signed a contract for one season.[93][94][95][96] The team was close to winning the league, Zicu being one of its best players, one of the most important moments being when he scored the only goal of a 1–0 away victory against
Steaua București which helped ASA reach the first position with five rounds before the end of the season.[97][98][99] Eventually they finished on the second place, losing the title in favor of Steaua in the last round when they were defeated 2–1 by
Oțelul Galați.[1][100][101]
Poli Timișoara
For the
2015–16 Liga I season, Zicu played again for a newly promoted team, returning to
Timișoara at
ACS Poli, but the one-year spell was rather unsuccessful as the team mathematically relegated, however managed to keep its position in the league because
Rapid București went bankrupt.[56][102][103][104][105]
Second spell at ASA Târgu Mureș
Zicu returned to
ASA Târgu Mureș in July 2016 where he would spend the last season of his career, leaving in January 2017 as the team had financial problems and did not pay him for several months, also relegating by the end of the season.[106][107][108][109] The highlight of this period was a brace scored in a 2–1 win over his former club,
Dinamo București, making his last
Liga I appearance on 10 December 2016 against the same team, this time losing with 1–0, having a total of 278 games with 77 goals scored in the competition.[1][3][110][111][112][113][114]
^"Cupa UEFA - Avem doua echipe in grupe" [UEFA Cup- We have two teams in the group stage] (in Romanian). Jurnalul.ro. 29 September 2006. Retrieved 18 October 2023.