Adrian Mutu

Adrian Mutu

Personal information
Full name	Adrian Mutu
Height	l 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Second Striker Attacking Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Fiorentina
Number	10
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1999	Argeş Piteşti	41	(11)
1999–2000	Dinamo Bucureşti	33	(22)
2000	Internazionale	10	(0)
2000–2002	Verona	57	(16)
2002–2003	Parma	31	(18)
2003–2004	Chelsea	27	(6)
2005–2006	Juventus	33	(7)
2006–	Fiorentina	78	(47)
International career‡
2000–	Romania	66	(29)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 December 2008 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2008

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

Career

Club career

Argeş Piteşti

Mutu began his professional career with his home club Argeş Piteşti. He made his debut on 15 March 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 Internazionale.

Inter

Having joined Internazionale midway through the season for €6.5 million, Mutu made an immediate impact on his debut for the Italian side, in the Coppa Italia scoring within nine minutes of his appearance against derby rivals AC Milan to help Inter to a 3-2 victory. However, 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 Verona before they paid €4 million ($6.1 million) to buy him outright.

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

Chelsea

Chelsea paid Parma €29.4 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 Mutu scored fewer goals 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 6 June, 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 £13.68 million On 31 July, 2009, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal filed by Mutu regarding his fine, now stated at £14.65m (€17,17m), to be paid to Chelsea. The fine was the highest ever levied by FIFA.

Juventus

Mutu signed a five-year contract with the Italian club Juventus on 12 January 2005, despite still being banned from football until 18 May. As Juventus had no available room to buy another non-EU player from abroad, the move also involved fellow Serie A club Livorno, who signed the player and contemporaneously sold him to Juventus. He made his first appearance on 29 May 2005, coming on as a substitute in the 57th minute of the last match of the season which was 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 Rapid Wien.

Fiorentina

On 8 July 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 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 A.S. Roma, the interest soon transformed into a transfer bid of €20 million. Mutu, however, ended up extending his contract with Fiorentina.

On 30 November, 2008, at his 200th match in Serie A, Mutu was chosen to captain Fiorentina in the game against Roma. On 2 February 2009, he scored his 100th and 101st Serie A goals against Bologna. On 15 February 2009, Mutu scored his first hat-trick with Fiorentina. After going 3–0 down against Genoa, Mutu converted a penalty, a free kick, and scored again in the final second of extra time, bringing the final score to 3–3. Despite a difficult elbow injury, Mutu managed to finish the 2008-2009 season with 14 goals, along with Gilardino they were one of the top ten single season striker partnerships in Viola history with 33 goals between them.

International career

As of 2009, Mutu has played for Romania 65 times, scoring 29 goals, 18 of which have come in qualifying games. Romania has only lost once when Mutu has scored for them, which was in a 2004 European qualifying game against Denmark. 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. He is a star and youth icon in Romania.

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

International goals list. Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	26 April 2000	Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanţa, Romania	Cyprus	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2.	17 April 2002	Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium, Bydgoszcz, Poland	Poland	2–0	2–1	Friendly
3.	29 March 2003	Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania	Denmark	1–0	2–5	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
4.	7 June 2003	Stadionul Ion Oblemenco, Craiova, Romania	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
5.	20 August 2003	Shakhtar Stadium, Donetsk, Ukraine	Ukraine	1–0	2–0	Friendly
6.	20 August 2003	Shakhtar Stadium, Donetsk, Ukraine	Ukraine	2–0	2–0	Friendly
7.	6 September 2003	Stadionul Astra, Ploieşti, Romania	Luxembourg	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
8.	10 September 2003	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–1	2–2	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
9.	11 October 2003	Stadionul Dinamo, Bucharest, Romania	Japan	1–0	1–1	Friendly
10.	18 February 2004	Neo GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Georgia	1–0	3–0	Friendly
11.	18 February 2004	Neo GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Georgia	2–0	3–0	Friendly
12.	18 August 2004	Stadionul Giuleşti, Bucharest, Romania	Finland	1–0	2–1	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
13.	4 September 2004	Stadionul Ion Oblemenco, Craiova, Romania	North Macedonia	2–1	2–1	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
14.	17 August 2005	Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanţa, Romania	Andorra	1–0	2–0	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
15.	17 August 2005	Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanţa, Romania	Andorra	2–0	2–0	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
16.	3 September 2005	Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanţa, Romania	Czech Republic	1–0	2–0	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
17.	3 September 2005	Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanţa, Romania	Czech Republic	2–0	2–0	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
18.	8 October 2005	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–0	1–0	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
19.	16 August 2006	Stadionul Farul, Constanţa, Romania	Cyprus	2–0	2–0	Friendly
20.	6 September 2006	Qemal Stafa, Tirana, Albania	Albania	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
21.	7 October 2006	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Belarus	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
22.	7 February 2007	Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania	Moldova	2–0	2–0	Friendly
23.	28 March 2007	Stadionul Ceahlăul, Piatra Neamţ, Romania	Luxembourg	1–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
24.	6 June 2007	Stadionul Dan Păltinişanu, Timişoara, Romania	Slovenia	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
25.	22 August 2007	Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania	Turkey	2–0	2–0	Friendly
26.	8 September 2007	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus	Belarus	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
27.	8 September 2007	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus	Belarus	3–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
28.	31 May 2008	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Montenegro	1–0	4–0	Friendly
29.	13 June 2008	Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland	Italy	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Group C

Statistics

League clubs

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1996-97||rowspan="3"|Argeş Piteşti||rowspan="3"|Divizia A||5||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||5||0 |- |1997-98||21||4||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||21||4 |- |1998-99||15||7||colspan="2"|-||6||3||21||10 |- |1998-99||rowspan="2"|Dinamo Bucureşti||rowspan="2"|Divizia A||15||4||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||15||4 |- |1999-00||18||18||colspan="2"|-||3||4||21||22 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1999-00||Internazionale||Serie A||10||0||4||2||colspan="2"|-||14||2 |- |2000-01||rowspan="2"|Verona||rowspan="2"|Serie A||25||4||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||25||4 |- |2001-02||32||12||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||32||12 |- |2002-03||Parma||Serie A||31||18||1||0||4||4||36||22 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2003-04||rowspan="2"|Chelsea||rowspan="2"|Premier League||25||6||4||3||7||1||36||10 |- |2004-05||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||2||0 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2004-05||rowspan="2"|Juventus||rowspan="2"|Serie A||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||1||0 |- |2005-06||32||7||3||1||8||1||43||9 |- |2006-07||rowspan="4"|Fiorentina||rowspan="4"|Serie A||33||16||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||33||16 |- |2007-08||26||17||1||0||8||6||35||23 |- |2008-09||17||13||1||0||5||2||21||14 |- |2009-10||1||1||0||0||1||0||2||1 Template:Football player statistics 374||35||colspan="2"|-||9||7||83||42 Template:Football player statistics 4206||86||14||6||33||14||253||106 Template:Football player statistics 427||6||4||3||7||1||38||10 Template:Football player statistics 5307||127||13||6||38||20||374||158 |}

Personal Life

In 2001, Mutu married Romanian TV presenter Alexandra Dinu, but they divorced two years later, with Alexandra being awarded custody of their son Mario.

He has since been married to Dominican model Consuelo Matos Gómez; the couple have two daughters together.

Miscellaneous

• In EA Sports's FIFA 09 videogame, Mutu appears in the game as Andrei Murgu. He was removed from the game by EA because of his failing of a drugs test in September 2004. He and Giovanni Tedesco of Palermo have been removed from this popular game; Tadesco appears as Giuseppe Tedaldo.
• His name appears in the Japanese manga comic Death Note.
• In July 2009, he was ordered to pay his former club Chelsea €17 million in damages for breach of contract. He has time till 31st dec 2009 to pay the fine, after that day he will be suspended from any league.

External links

• Adrian Mutu - official site
• FootballDatabase provides Adrian Mutu's profile and stats
• About Adrian Mutu
• Daily news about Fiorentina on web
• Adrian Mutu Biography