In a career marred by injuries, he played mainly for Steaua București and represented the Romania national team in one World Cup and one European Championship.

With the capital club, he won five consecutive Liga I titles, almost always featuring as a starter; his debut in the league came on 8 November in a 3–1 win at FC Farul Constanța, aged 20.

[3] In the summer of 1998, Prodan joined Rangers (a club against which he had scored a memorable goal for Steaua in the UEFA Champions League in 1995)[4][5] for £2.2 million, but made no first-team appearances in two-and-a-half years in Scotland due to a serious knee injury, which he sustained whilst with the Colchoneros.

[6][7] Rangers' doctor, Stewart Hillis, later revealed that no medical had been conducted, and the transfer was rushed to completion on the strength of falsified documents;[8] the Glasgow club threatened to sue Atlético Madrid, but backed down and released the player in January 2001.

Prodan won 54 caps for Romania between 1993 and 2001,[10] and was in the squads for the 1994 FIFA World Cup (playing every minute at the tournament as the team reached the quarter-finals)[11] and UEFA Euro 1996.