Adrian Cristea, nicknamed "Prințul" (The Prince), started his career in his hometown, Iași, playing in the lower leagues for Politehnica.

[1][2][11][12] His first experience abroad came in 2013, when he went to play alongside fellow Romanian George Țucudean, being loaned to Standard Liège, where he was wanted by Mircea Rednic, a coach that worked with him at Petrolul and Dinamo.

[17][18][19] However, Cristea failed to win a place in the first team, being used by coach Laurențiu Reghecampf in only 9 Liga I matches in which he scored one goal as The Military Men won the title and played in both legs of the 2013–14 Champions League play-off where the team eliminated Legia Warsaw, reaching the group stage where he made one appearance when he was sent on the field in the 73rd minute in order to replace Leandro Tatu in a 3–0 away loss against Schalke 04, ending his contract with Steaua in April 2014.

[1][2][5][20][21][22] In September 2014, Cristea reached an agreement with Concordia Chiajna, where he made his last Liga I appearances, having a total of 266 games with 40 goals scored in the competition.

[1][2][23] Adrian Cristea played 9 games for Romania, making his debut on 7 February 2007 when coach Victor Pițurcă introduced him at halftime to replace Ovidiu Petre in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 victory against Moldova.