Having recovered from his injury, Niculae was expected to be among the substitutes against Rapid Wien, but a relapse of an older injury forced him out off the field for another four-months. He was highly acclaimed at his come-back for Sporting on 21 January 2004, in a 4–0 home win in a friendly match against VfL Wolfsburg. He scored his first competitive goal after a 367-day break on 7 February, during a 3–3 draw against Nacional Madeira. He also played with shirt number 9, switching his old squad number 7. He scored again on 10 April, in a 4–0 home victory against Estrela Amadora, coming off the bench in the 75th minute On 9 May he opened the score-sheet in the last league match of the season against Vitória Guimarães, in a 2–0 away win. He ended for the second year in a row on the third place in the league, netting three goals in 14 appearances, most of them as a substitute.