Career
As a football player, he played in Romania for Universitatea Craiova, and U Cluj, and has also played abroad for Genoa 1893, MSV Duisburg and Omonia. He was a striker and was especially skilled in free-kicks. He is 11th in an all-time ranking for the goalscorers in Liga I, with 157 goals.
The second season was not a brilliant one for Dinamo Bucharest and Niculescu was transferred to Genoa Football Club 1893 in the Italian Second Division at the middle of the season.
In the 2006-2007 season, he became the goal-getter of the league scoring 18 goals, four of these in the match against rivals Rapid Bucharest. He was also the second best goal-scorer the, scoring eight goals.
In total, he scored 18 goals for Dinamo in European matches, and he is the all-time top scorer in European competitions for Dinamo. In Romania, he played 351 games, scoring 173 goals.
On 25 July 2010, he scored on his debut for "U" Cluj against his former fierce rivals, Steaua Bucharest.
His first experience as a coach came at Universitatea Cluj, where he was in the same time active player. Niculescu resigned after the first game of the 2012-2013 season, a drastic loss at Pandurii Târgu Jiu: 6–2. On 25 September 2012, Claudiu Niculescu was installed as the head coach of Liga II team Football Club Bihor Oradea with an objective to help the team promote to the first division.
In December, Niculescu ended his contract, after only eight games (two wins, three draws and three loses).
In January 2013, Niculescu took over Damila Măciuca, in Liga World War II Club Individual As a manager.