Chivu won the Coppa Italia in his last of four seasons in Rome before a transfer to Inter Milan, where he spent the rest of his career before retiring in 2014.

After recovering from a fractured skull, Chivu wore a distinctive protective headgear, similar to Petr Čech's, from 2010 onwards.

After moving to FC Universitatea Craiova, his reputation began to rise and his performances sparked interest from some larger clubs outside of Romania.

Playing alongside Chivu were future stars such as Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Johnny Heitinga, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Steven Pienaar and Maxwell.

Chivu played a pivotal role for Ajax in their UEFA Champions League run in the 2002–03 season, when they came to within a minute of the semi-finals.

That season, Chivu was in a quintet of Ajax players – himself, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Maxwell, Wesley Sneijder and Andy van der Meyde – who all went on to later join Inter Milan.

Seeking to silence the increasing doubt over their financial situation, Roma sought a bank guarantee, which was subsequently denied.

After a four-year spell which yielded a Coppa Italia, Chivu left Roma and signed a five-year contract with Serie A rivals Inter on 27 July 2007.

[20] In 1999, Chivu was chosen to represent the Romania national under-21 team and quickly made the step up to play for the full side.

[citation needed] At Euro 2008, he earned plaudits for his performance, keeping previous FIFA World Cup champions Italy and runners-up France at bay, despite being played in a less familiar role as a holding midfielder.

According to Calcio Italia magazine, Chivu has been involved in opening football schools around Romania for the past few years, and he said "I hope that he is proud when he looks down on me" in reference to his father who died in 1998.