He played professionally in four countries, but spent most of his career in his native Romania representing Dacia Mioveni, Argeș Pitești, Steaua București, CFR Cluj and Viitorul Constanța.

Since his retirement as a player, Dică has had several stints as either an assistant, a caretaker or a head coach at his former club Steaua București.

[citation needed] Dică was seen as an upcoming talent and the local Divizia A club, Argeș Pitești, signed him in 2000.

[5] He made his debut in Europe in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup season, when Steaua eliminated previous winners Valencia, en route to the Round of 16, where they were knocked out by another Spanish side Villarreal.

[9] On 13 September 2006, Dică scored twice in the 4–1 away win against Dynamo Kyiv in Steaua București's opening game in the UEFA Champions League, this being his first ever appearance in said tournament.

[10] He went on to score four goals and add one assist in six games against group opponents, Dynamo Kyiv, Real Madrid, and Lyon.

After his performances in the Champions League, the daily newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor gave the Romanian Footballer of the Year 2006 award to Dică.

[12] On 9 May, for his birthday, Dică returned to the team and was introduced in the late stages of the 2–0 victory against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

He was expected to replace midfielder Juan Manuel Vargas who moved to ACF Fiorentina,[14] but ended up being a flop, taking part in just 93 minutes of play during his first six months with Palermo.

On 25 May, Dică scored from a trademark free kick in a 2–1 victory over rivals Dinamo București, and won his second consecutive Romanian cup.

[27] He went undefeated in his first ten games in all competitions before losing to Portuguese club Sporting CP, in the 2017–18 Champions League play-off.

[28] In December 2018, after a year and a half at the helm of the club, Dică terminated his contract with FCSB by mutual consent.