Career
Universitatea Craiova Ionescu is a product of Universitatea Craiova"s youth system and has been a regular player for them. Rising through the ranks, he became captain of the side on several occasions. His talent caught the attention of Dutch club PSV in 2004, where he spent one season in their academy.
Ionescu has a lot of qualities his great passes and acceleration goes along with good dribbling attributes.
He"s also good-working player, who is battling for every ball in his reach. He made his professional Liga I debut on 27 August 2006 in a 0–4 loss to Dinamo Bucureşti.
In his three seasons at Craiova, he played 54 matches and scored 4 goals. Steaua București On 24 August 2008, he signed a five-year contract with Steaua Bucureşti.
He is in co-ownership with Universitatea Craiova.
The following two seasons saw Ionescu in and out of the squad, making only 18 league and cup appearances during the two years, mostly from the substitutes bench. After the arrival of new manager Cristiano Bergodi, Ionescu became a regular starter for Steaua in the 2009-2010 Europa League season. Struggling for first team opportunities, Ionescu was sent out on loan to Politehnica Iaşi on 10 February 2010 until the summer.
During the 2010 summer transfer window, he was close to sign a loan deal with Turkish side Mersin İdmanyurdu.
However, the transfer failed. In the winter of 2010-2011 season, Ionescu was demoted to the B squad.
In June 2011, Ionescu left Steaua. Royal Antwerp On 31 August 2011, the free agent signed a two-year contract with Belgian side Royal Antwerp.
Budapest On 22 February 2006, he made his debut for the Romania U-21 squad in a friendly against Turkey.
