Career
Born in Craiova, Barbu started playing football for Lokomotiva Craiova and Dinamo Obor București. In 1959, he joined Football Club Argeş Piteşti, where he would play for 13 seasons, appearing in 224 league matches and winning the Romanian league in the 1971-1972 season. In 1970, Barbu moved to Turkey to join Beşiktaş J.K.
He made 20 appearances in the Süper Lig during the 1970-1971 season.
He was the first Football Club Arges player to be allowed to play outside of Romania during the communist regime. Barbu made seven appearances for the Romania national football team
He died in a Piteşti hospital on 2 May 2011.