He was the first player to score in the penalty shoot-out of the 1986 European Cup final against FC Barcelona, won by Steaua. After 1990 World Cup in Italy, where he scored two goals against the USSR, Lăcătuș was signed by the Italian team ACF Fiorentina and then moved to Real Oviedo in Spain. In 1994, he returned to Steaua and played for the team until 1999, when he finally signed for FC Național București, where he played only for half a season before retiring. However, in October 2006 he decided to enroll himself as part of UT Arad team where he was also coach until 2007 before he joined FCSB.