[4][5] Fans of Turkish club Galatasaray, with whom Hagi ended his career, called him Comandante ("[The] Commander"), while he was known as Regele ("The King") to Romanian supporters.

[22][24] In 1982, he returned to FC Constanța, making his Divizia A debut on 11 September at age 17, being a starter under coach Emanoil Hașoti in a 3–0 away loss in front of SC Bacău.

[26][27] Until the end of the season he would score six more goals, including two doubles against CS Târgoviște and Politehnica Timișoara, however the team finished on the last place, relegating to Divizia B.

[22][29] During his period spent with The Students, Hagi started playing in European competitions, making 10 appearances with four goals scored in the UEFA Cup over the course of four seasons, most notably playing in a historical 1–0 victory against Inter Milan from the first round of the 1984–85 season, then in the same round from the following edition he scored a hat-trick in a 4–4 with Neuchâtel Xamax, however on both occasions the team did not manage to qualify further, losing on the aggregate result.

[17] However, after winning the final, in which Hagi scored the only goal of the match from a free kick, Steaua did not want to release him back to Sportul Studențesc and retained him.

[22][33][34] In the next season, Hagi was used by Iordănescu in 31 league games in which he scored 25 goals which helped the club win another title, and made another continental performance as they reached the semi-finals of the European Cup where they lost in favor of Benfica, Hagi contributing with two doubles scored against MTK Budapest and Omonia Nicosia in the eight matches played, being the competition's top-scorer alongside six other players.

[22][39] His strong performances had him linked with Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan, fellow Serie A club Juventus, and German side Bayern Munich, but Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist government rejected any offer.

[17] After impressing at the 1990 World Cup, Hagi was signed on 27 June that same year by Spanish club Real Madrid who paid a sum estimated by the press in between 3.5 – 4.3 million$ to Steaua in order to acquire him.

[6][41][42][43] He made his La Liga debut on 1 September, being used all the minutes by coach John Toshack in a 1–0 home win against Castellón which was the club's 1000th victory in the competition.

[6][47][50][51][52] In 2013, the Marca newspaper organized a poll for the most beautiful long-distance goal in Real Madrid's history and Hagi's folha seca with Osasuna came on the first place.

[47][55] The team would eventually also lose the Copa del Rey final with 2–0 in a derby with Atlético Madrid in which coach Leo Beenhakker used Hagi as a starter.

[47][56] In 1992 he was transferred for 8 billion lira (2.4 million$) by Mircea Lucescu's "Brescia Romena" as during around that period his fellow Romanians Florin Răducioiu, Ioan Sabău, Dorin Mateuț and Dănuț Lupu also played for the club.

[50][57] After performing memorably during the 1994 World Cup, Hagi returned to Spain, and was signed by Barcelona from Brescia for 3.2 million$ where he was coached by his childhood idol Johan Cruyff.

[67] Hagi scored three goals in five matches from the 1995–96 UEFA Cup campaign against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Sevilla and in the lost semi-final with Bayern Munich.

[42][77][80][81] On 26 May 2001, Hagi played his last game as a professional footballer, managing to score a brace and provide an assist in Galatasaray's 4–0 win over Trabzonspor in the Turkish league.

[82][84] Gheorghe Hagi made his debut for Romania on 10 August 1983 at the age of 18, under coach Mircea Lucescu who used him in all the minutes of a friendly which ended 0–0 against Norway, played on the Ullevaal stadium from Oslo.

[8][85][86] In the second leg with the Northern Irish he was made captain for the first time, the game ending with another loss which mathematically erased their chances to qualify at the final tournament.

[93] Then Hagi, feeling that his teammates were too relaxed, asked coach Anghel Iordănescu to leave the dressing room and let him talk to them, afterwards he started punching the closet and held a motivational speech.

[93][94] Hagi captained The Tricolours at the final tournament, in the first match with Colombia he provided the assists for both of Florin Răducioiu's goals in the 3–1 win and he defeated goalkeeper Óscar Córdoba with a spectacular 35-meters lob from the side of the field in which the ball was not spinning in the air.

[86][101] At the 1998 World Cup qualifiers he made six appearances, scoring three goals with Iceland, one with Liechtenstein and a spectacular one in Dublin with a shot from a 35-meters free kick in a 1–1 draw with the Republic of Ireland.

[105][106][107] During the show, Păunescu and all his guests which were names from Romanian football but also from politics tried over the course of about five hours to convince Hagi to come back to the national team, also over 100 fans spontaneously came in front of the TV station's headquarters to cheer him even do it was past midnight.

[86] At the final tournament, coach Emerich Jenei used him as a starter in the first two group stage matches, receiving a yellow card in each of them which got him suspended for the decisive game with England but his teammates managed to win it without him and qualify to the quarter-finals.

[114][116][117] In July 2003, Hagi took over as coach of Turkish Süper Lig side Bursaspor, transferring Romanian players Ionel Ganea, Bogdan Vintilă, Iulian Miu and Cornel Frăsineanu to the club.

[114][118] Hagi then became manager of Galatasaray in March 2004, replacing Fatih Terim, having fellow Romanian players Florin Bratu and Ovidiu Petre in the squad, finishing the season on the sixth place.

[126] From June to September 2007, Hagi coached Steaua București, managing to get past Zagłębie Lubin and BATE Borisov in the Champions League qualifying rounds, reaching the group stage where they were defeated 2–1 by Slavia Prague in the first match.

[114][127][128] The main reason for resigning was the owner's policy of imposing players, making the team's strategy and threatening him that he would be fired if he won't comply.

[114][140] A talented left-footed attacking midfielder, Hagi's playing style was frequently compared with Diego Maradona's throughout his career, due to his technical ability as well as his temperamental character and leadership;[8][51][141][142][143] as a youth, he was mainly inspired by compatriots Anghel Iordănescu and Ion Dumitru.

[3][6][141][144][145][146][147] Hagi was renowned in particular for his first touch and speed on the ball, as well as his timing, interpretation of space, bursts of acceleration and dribbling skills, which enabled him to get past defenders; he was also highly regarded for his vision and precise passing,[3][6][141][148] although he was capable of both scoring and assisting goals, and was also an accurate finisher and set-piece taker, who had a penchant for scoring goals from powerful, bending long range strikes.

[3][6][8][141][144][149] Despite his small stature and slender build, Hagi possessed significant upper body strength, which, along with his control, aided him in protecting the ball from opponents, and allowed him to create space for himself or his teammates.

[8][17][41][144] Despite his skill and his reputation as one of the greatest number 10s of his generation, his career was marked by inconsistency at times, and he was also considered to be a controversial player, due to his rebellious and arrogant attitude, as well as his low work-rate, aggression, unsportsmanlike behaviour, and lack of discipline, which led him to have several disagreements and confrontations with his managers, opponents, and officials.