Early career Nistor did not play football at junior level, but in 2005 joined his hometown club AS Rucăr in the
lower leagues. Roughly two years later, during a match against the reserves of
Argeș Pitești, he impressed
Internațional Curtea de Argeș owner Benone Lazăr who was in the attendance. Nistor was then transferred to the latter club at the cost of seven football balls. After his first season at Internațional in the
third league, Nistor was loaned to
Muscelul Câmpulung and
Dacia Mioveni, respectively. Upon his return to
Curtea de Argeș in 2010, the team withdrew from the
Liga I championship due to financial issues. On 10 April 2011, he scored his first Liga I goal in a 4–2 home victory over
Victoria Brănești. Nistor made 35 appearances and netted six goals all competition comprised in the
2012–13 season, as Pandurii finished second in the championship and subsequently qualified for the
UEFA Europa League. He made his debut in the latter competition on 16 July 2013, in a goalless away draw with
Levadia Tallinn in the
second qualifying round. His team went further after 4–0 on aggregate, and he recorded his first
European goal in a 1–1 draw against
Hapoel Tel Aviv on 1 August.
Evian In August 2013, amid interest from
FC Steaua București,
CFR Cluj, and
Málaga, Nistor was transferred by French club
Evian for a rumoured fee of €800,000. He failed to establish himself as a starter for
Les Roses, only amassing six
Ligue 1 matches during the first half of the
2013–14 campaign. As a result, Nistor made a controversial statement about Evian's staff, saying that he did not play more
because of his nationality.
Return to Pandurii Târgu Jiu On 22 January 2014, Nistor was sent on loan to his former team Pandurii Târgu Jiu for a period of five months, which was later extended for the
2014–15 season. In the summer of 2015, after being released by Evian, he again joined the
Alb-albaștrii as a
free agent.
Dinamo București On 31 August 2016, Nistor agreed to a two-year deal with fellow league club
Dinamo București. He won his first career trophy on 20 May 2017, after "the Red Dogs" came victorious
2–0 in the
Cupa Ligii final against
ACS Poli Timișoara.
CFR Cluj On 10 July 2017, Nistor moved to
CFR Cluj in a swap deal which took
Filipe Nascimento in the opposite direction. Under the management of
Dan Petrescu, he played 18 games across all competitions without scoring. In January 2018, he publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Petrescu's communication skills and his recent lack of playing time.
Return to Dinamo București Nistor terminated his contract with CFR Cluj and rejoined Dinamo București on 13 January 2018. He was assigned the
number 10 shirt and played his first match upon return on 4 February, in a 2–2 Liga I draw with
Universitatea Craiova. On 29 July 2018, Nistor scored in a
cross-town derby with FCSB, which ended 3–3. The following month, FCSB reportedly made several bids for the transfer of the midfielder; Dinamo however rejected each offer and proceeded in contract extension talks. Nistor registered 13 assists across the
2018–19 league season, the most for a player in the previous ten years, and was named by
Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal in the best team of the campaign.
Universitatea Craiova On 6 January 2020, Nistor signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Universitatea Craiova for an undisclosed transfer fee. He made his debut on the 31st, in a 3–1 Liga I victory over
Gaz Metan Mediaș, and scored his first goals on 4 March in a 2–3
Cupa României loss to
Politehnica Iași. On 23 June 2020, Nistor scored his first goal in the championship for Craiova in a 2–1 home defeat of
Botoșani. He then converted the winning
penalty in a 2–1 victory over FCSB on 12 July. On 3 August, Nistor opened the scoring in an eventual 1–3 home loss to CFR Cluj in the final fixture; the result meant that Craiova finished second in the table, while his former club won its third title in a row.
Universitatea Cluj On 13 February 2023, Nistor moved to
Universitatea Cluj, the
city rival of his former club CFR Cluj. ==International career==