In the summer of 2006, Sorin Cârțu resigned from the club and former Italian star Giuseppe Giannini was appointed as the new manager of Argeș Pitești. After two weeks of training he decided that Bogdan Stancu and another player, Robert Neagoe, should be released. He ended up making only 7 appearances for his team that season. Stancu was sent once again to Dacia Mioveni during the pre-season but after a few days, Gigi Nețoiu brought him to Unirea Urziceni. In May 2008, after three years at Unirea, Stancu was transferred to Steaua București. Local media reported the fee to be in the region of €1 million.
On 30 June 2008, Stancu played his first match in Steaua's shirt in a friendly against Maribor, scoring the first goal. He scored his second goal On 26 July against Roma in a friendly game, Steaua won 3–1.
On 23 August 2008, Stancu scored his first double for Steaua against Gloria Bistrița in Liga I. In his first five Liga I matches for Steaua he scored four goals. He managed to score four goals in several winter break friendly matches. After the winter break he scored again in the first match against Vaslui. On 14 March 2009, he scored in the sixth minute of the match against Politehnica Iași, leading Steaua to its victory. At his first season at Steaua was top scorer with 11 goals, along with Greek Pantelis Kapetanos.