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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 Romanian national team.

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of România, Traian Băsescu for the results on Qualifying to EURO 2008 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 Bucharest.

Dinamo Bucureşti

His strong performances for Dinamo Bucharest 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 Inter.

Inter

Having joined Inter midway through the season for €6.5m, Mutu failed to replicate his form in Serie A. 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 paid €10m ($15.4m) for his services.

Chelsea

Chelsea paid Parma €22.4 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, but the goals dried up as the season progressed. In the 2004-05 season, 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 World Cup qualifying match against the Czech Republic. 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 £9.6 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 Italian club Juventus 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. 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, 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 32 goals 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 Romanian national team earned him the Romanian Footballer of the Year award.

Euro 2008

Mutu scored Romania's only goal of Euro 2008 in the 55th minute of their second match against Italy, 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

Adrian Mutu: International Goals
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	April 26, 2000	Constanţa, Romania		2-0	Win	Friendly
2	April 17, 2002	Bydgoszcz, Poland		2-1	Win	Friendly
3	March 29, 2003	Bucharest, Romania		2-5	Lose	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
4	June 7, 2003	Craiova, Romania		2-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
5	August 20, 2003	Donetsk, Ukraine		2-0	Win	Friendly
6	August 20, 2003	Donetsk, Ukraine		2-0	Win	Friendly
7	September 6, 2003	Ploieşti, Romania		4-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
8	September 10, 2003	Copenhagen, Denmark		2-2	Draw	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
9	October 11, 2003	Bucharest, Romania		1-1	Draw	Friendly
10	February 18, 2004	Larnaca, Cyprus		3-0	Win	Friendly
11	February 18, 2004	Larnaca, Cyprus		3-0	Win	Friendly
12	August 18, 2004	Bucharest, Romania		2-1	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
13	September 4, 2004	Craiova, Romania		2-1	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
14	August 17, 2005	Constanţa, Romania		2-0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
15	August 17, 2005	Constanţa, Romania		2-0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
16	September 3, 2005	Constanţa, Romania		2-0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
17	September 3, 2005	Constanţa, Romania		2-0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
18	October 8, 2005	Helsinki, Finland		1-0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
19	August 16, 2006	Constanţa, Romania		2-0	Win	Friendly
20	September 6, 2006	Tirana, Albania		2-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
21	October 7, 2006	Bucharest, Romania		3-1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
22	February 7, 2007	Bucharest, Romania		2-0	Win	Friendly
23	March 28, 2007	Piatra Neamt, Romania		3-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
24	June 6, 2007	Timişoara, Romania		2-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
25	August 22, 2007	Bucharest, Romania		2-0	Win	Friendly
26	September 8, 2007	Minsk, Belarus		3-1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
27	September 8, 2007	Minsk, Belarus		3-1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
28	May 31, 2008	Bucharest, Romania		4-0	Win	Friendly
29	June 13, 2008	Zurich, Switzerland	Italy	1-1	Draw	UEFA Euro 2008 Group C

Statistics

League clubs

1996-97 Argeş Piteşti Divizia A 5 0 - - 5 0 1997-98 21 4 - - 21 4 1998-99 15 7 - 6 3 21 10 1998-99 Dinamo Bucureşti Divizia A 15 4 - - 15 4 1999-00 18 18 - 3 4 21 22 1999-00 Internazionale Milano Serie A 10 0 4 2 - 14 2 2000-01 Hellas Verona Serie A 25 4 - - 25 4 2001-02 32 12 - - 32 12 2002-03 Parma Serie A 31 18 1 0 4 4 36 22 2003-04 Chelsea Premier League 25 6 4 3 7 1 36 10 2004-05 2 0 - - 2 0 2004-05 Juventus Serie A 1 0 - - 1 0 2005-06 32 7 3 1 8 1 43 9 2006-07 Fiorentina Serie A 33 15 - - 33 15 2007-08 26 17 1 0 8 6 35 23 2008-09 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 174 35 - 9 7 83 42190 73 9 3 20 11 219 8727 6 4 3 7 1 38 10291 112 13 6 37 20 341 138 Last updated August 12, 2008