Adrian Mutu
Romania
8 January 1979
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is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder.
Mutu started his career playing two years for Argeศ Piteศti and half a season for Dinamo Bucureศti, before joining Inter Milan in Italy midway through the 1999โ2000 Serie A. After only ten games with the Nerazzurri, he left for Hellas Verona and then Parma, for which he scored 39 goals in the next three years. His excellent form brought him a โฌ22.5 million transfer to Chelsea and a nomination for the Ballon d'Or in 2003. Following a failed drug test, he was released and returned to Serie A to join Juventus. After the 2006 Italian football scandal and the relegation of Juventus to Serie B, Mutu decided to join Fiorentina, where he played consistently for the next five years. He then had a season at Cesena and French club Ajaccio, before returning to his native country with Petrolul Ploieศti in 2014. After two more brief spells with Pune City and ASA Tรขrgu Mureศ, Mutu retired from professional football in 2016.
A controversial figure off the field, Mutu received widespread attention following a positive test for cocaine while playing for Chelsea in 2005, which resulted in his immediate release from the club, a subsequent seven-month ban from the Football Association, and Mutu later being ordered to pay ยฃ15.2 million in damages to his former employers, the largest financial penalty in FIFA history. He has unsuccessfully tried to appeal the fine numerous times, and was banned for a second time in 2010 following a positive test for sibutramine while at Fiorentina.
From his international debut in 2000, Mutu played 77 matches for the Romania national team and scored 35 goals, a joint record alongside Gheorghe Hagi. He was included in the country's squads at the UEFA European Championship in 2000 and 2008. A four-time winner of the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, only Gheorghe Popescu and Gheorghe Hagi have received the award more times, with six and seven wins, respectively.
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