Adrian Mutu

Adrian Mutu (born January 8, 1979 in Călineşti, Argeş County) is a Romanian striker who plays for Italian Serie A club ACF Fiorentina and the Romania national football team.

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of România, Traian Băsescu for the results on UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group G and qualification to UEFA Euro 2008 Group C with Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Career

Club career

FC Argeş Piteşti

Mutu began his professional career with his home club FC Argeş Piteşti. He made his debut on March 15, 1997 against Oţelul Galaţi and went on to score 14 goals in 41 games before sealing a €600,000 ($922,000) transfer to Dinamo Bucureşti.

Dinamo Bucureşti

His strong performances for Dinamo Bucureşti meant that Mutu did not spend long playing in the Romanian capital. He scored 22 goals in 33 games in total and played an important role in Dinamo's league and Romanian Cup success. However by the time that Dinamo lifted these trophies Mutu had already left to play for F.C. Internazionale Milano. He played only ten games for Inter and failed to score any goals. In 2000, he was loaned out to Hellas Verona F.C before they paid €4m ($6.1m) to buy him outright.

In the 2001/02 season Parma F.C. paid €10m ($15.4m) for his services.

Chelsea

Chelsea F.C. paid Parma euro22.4 million for Mutu's transfer as part of new owner Roman Abramovich's spending spree, which made him the most expensive Romanian football player at the time. He started with four goals in three matches, including two in a 4-2 victory over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur F.C., but the goals dried up as the season progressed.
In the 2004-05 in English football, Mutu had a difficult relationship with the club's new manager José Mourinho, with each accusing the other of lying about whether the player was injured for a Football World Cup 2006 qualifying match against the Czech Republic national football team. In September 2004, he failed a drugs test for cocaine, and was sacked on 29 October 2004. He also received a 7-month ban and a £20,000 fine from the Football Association. The ban ended on 18 May 2005. On June 6, 2008 Mutu was ordered by FIFA to pay Chelsea pound sterling9.6 million (€12 million), to compensate for the transfer fee the club paid for him. His lawyer announced that Mutu would contest the fine in civil court. This fine was later increased, on appeal by the Dispute Resolution Chamber to £13.68m (€17,17 million).

Juventus

Mutu signed a five-year contract with the Italy club Juventus F.C. on January 12, 2005, despite still being banned from football until May. He made his first appearance on May 29, 2005, coming on as a substitute in the 57th minute of the last match of the season, a 4-2 win over Cagliari Calcio. During the 2005/06 season, he scored seven goals in his 20 league match and 12 substitute appearances for Juventus. In the UEFA Champions League, he made three starts and five substitute appearances, and scored against SK Rapid Wien.

Fiorentina

On July 8, 2006, ACF Fiorentina announced that they had signed Mutu for €8 million. This reunited Mutu with his former manager at Parma, Cesare Prandelli. Mutu formed a productive partnership with then Fiorentina striker Luca Toni (now at FC Bayern Munich)—the pair scored Serie A 2006-07 Top goalscorers in the 2006/07 season. He was named the best player of the season by “Il Calcio”, due to his 16 goals and eight assists in 33 games. This season led to interest from the Italian club AS Roma, the interest soon transformed into a transfer bid of €20 million. Mutu, however, ended up extending his contract with Fiorentina.

International career

As of 2007, Mutu has played for Romania 61 times, scoring 28 goals, 17 of which have come in qualifying games. Romania has only lost once when Mutu has scored for them. He is the vice-captain of Romania. His performances ( games, goals) with the Romania national football team earned him the Romanian Footballer of the Year award.

Euro 2008

Mutu scored Romania's only goal of UEFA Euro 2008 in the 55th minute of their UEFA Euro 2008 Group C Italy vs Romania against Italy national football team, however in the same match he had a second-half penalty saved by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, which could have sent Italy out of the competition, and would have guaranteed Romania a spot in the quarter finals. The game finished 1–1.

International goals