[1] He won three consecutive Divizia A titles from 1982 until 1984, at the first coach Valentin Stănescu used him in 28 matches, in the following two he worked with Nicolae Dumitru who gave him 14 appearances in the first and 26 in which he scored two goals in the second.
[1][2][4][5] Stănescu also won three Cupa României with The Red Dogs, in the first one he did not play in the final with FC Baia Mare, at the second, coach Dumitru used him as a starter, replacing him after 24 minutes with Ioan Mărginean in the 2–1 over rivals Steaua București and at the one from 1986, under the guidance of coach Mircea Lucescu he played all the minutes in the 1–0 victory with Steaua who had recently just won the European Cup.
[1][2][4][7] After eight seasons spent at Dinamo, he was transferred at Flacăra Moreni where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 3 December 1988 in a 2–0 victory against ASA Târgu Mureș, having a total of 189 matches with four goals scored in the competition.
[1][2][4] Nelu Stănescu played six games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 11 November 1981 under coach Mircea Lucescu in a qualification match for the 1982 World Cup against Switzerland which ended 0–0.
[8] His former Dinamo teammate, Marin Dragnea talked about Stănescu's style of play in a 2022 Gazeta Sporturilor interview:"I think the word tenacity would best characterize him.