Following Cornel Dinu's appointment as team manager, the 17-year-old's career began to take off, as he was used more often. He later stated: "The most close to me is Cornel Dinu. When he was Dinamo's manager, I made my first-team debut at 15 years and a half and I ended up winning two cups and one championship." He scored his first league goal from the 1998–99 season on 26 September, helping his team to demolish Universitatea Cluj 8–0. He did not find the net again until 21 November when he opened the scoreboard against Petrolul Ploieşti in a 3–2 away win. His final goals of 1998 came on 9 December in a 2–0 cup win against UM Timișoara, netting a brace. He scored his first goal for Dinamo in 1999 on 2 April in a 5–0 home win against Olimpia Satu Mare. He scored again against Universitatea Cluj on 21 April in a 6–0 away win, establishing the final score. He scored a late goal against Petrolul Ploieşti on 26 May, thus being his final goal of the season. He ended up second in the league with Dinamo, netting seven times in 28 appearances. He also reached Romanian Cup semi-finals, scoring twice for his team.