What happened to former Chelsea star Adrian Mutu?

Adrian Mutu is one of the greatest Romanian footballers of all time, but his controversial life off the pitch damaged his reputation. Here is Adrian Mutu's infamous story.

Mutu began his career in his native Romania at Argeș Pitești and Dinamo Bucharest. It was at the latter club, where he won a Romanian title and a cup, that he attracted the interest of big clubs.

In January 2000, Mutu was signed by Italian giants Internazionale for a reported fee of 6.5 million euros (Transfermarkt).

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However, he would only stay at Inter half a season and was recruited by Hellas Verona in the summer of the same year. After 17 goals in 63 appearances for the club, he was sold to AC Parma for 10 million euros (Transfermarkt).

At Parma, Mutu showed what an exceptional player he was. He scored 22 goals in the 2002/03 season and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or, finishing in 22nd place. A move to a bigger club beckoned.

It was Chelsea who signed Mutu in the summer of 2003, for a reported fee of 19 million euros (Transfermarkt). The Romanian was one of the first big transfers of then Blues owners Roman Abramovich.

He had a decent first season, scoring on his debut, but clashed with José Mourinho, who arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004.

Things got even worse for Mutu, who failed a cocaine test in September 2004, but denied taking the substance. "The only reason I took what I took was because I wanted to improve my s****l performance," he explained, according to The Sun.

Mutu was sacked by Chelsea and was banned from football for seven months, but this punishment was nothing like what was to come.

Chelsea pursued financial compensation from the Romanian, who appealed several times, but was ordered to pay the Blues 17 million euros, the largest fine ever for a football player.

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After his spell at Stamford Bridge, Mutu returned to Italy, where he joined Juventus via Livorno. He was ready to put his career back on track.

In July 2006, after scoring 11 goals for the Old Lady, Mutu signed for ACF Fiorentina, where he once again showed his class, but also made headlines negatively.

In January 2010, Mutu failed another drug test and was banned for nine months, which was later reduced to six months. La Viola first suspended him, but then welcomed him back in the first team.

After his time in Florence, Mutu played for Cesena (Italy), AC Ajaccio (France), Petrolul (Romania), FC Pune City (India) and Târgu Mureș (Romania). He retired in 2016.

During his career, Mutu was also a key player for Romania, where he made 77 appearances.

He scored a total of 35 goals for Romania, which makes him joint all-time top scorer with Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi.

After hanging up his boots, Mutu embarked on a second career. He became general manager of Dinamo Bucharest in 2016, then coached several teams, including the Romanian U21s. In 2023, he signed a contract as head coach of Azerbaijan's Neftchi Baku. This was followed by a spell at CFR Cluj.

It's not just Mutu's football career that regularly made the headlines, but also his private life. He got married to Romanian celebrity Alexandra Dinu in 2001 and model Consuelo Matos Gómez (pictured) in 2005. In 2016, he married former Miss Romania Sandra Bachici. He has four children in total.

In 2004, Mutu was in the news when he was caught "sucking the blood" of adult film star Laura Andresan, per The Sun.

However, Mutu also has a distinguished and more sensitive side. According to The Sun, he is a law graduate, a fan of poetry and a reader of the Russian writer Dostoyevsky.

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Mutu is a man who continues to divide opinion, with some believing he was a footballing genius and others pointing to his controversial life off the pitch. Are you a fan?