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Adrian Mutu in action for Chelsea against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in 2004 - Getty Images/Jim Watson
Adrian Mutu is remembered for one thing in England. And it is the thing he wishes everyone would forget.
In August 2003, Chelsea signed Mutu for £16 million as the club spent lavishly with Roman Abramovich’s money freshly invested in the club. Damien Duff, Juan Sebastián Verón, Joe Cole, Hernán Crespo and Claude Makélélé were among those to arrive at the same time.
The Romanian, who was already starting to develop a reputation for a colourful life off the pitch, began in fine form, scoring four goals in his first three games, including a double in a 4-2 win against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
Under Claudio Ranieri, Mutu featured regularly, making 36 appearances across all competitions, a campaign in which Chelsea finished second in the league. Everything changed when a certain José Mourinho arrived, however.
The pair first clashed over his fitness for an international match. Mourinho said he was injured, Mutu disagreed – and went to play anyway.
Not long after in October 2004, reports emerged that Mutu had failed a drug test for cocaine use. He was eventually banned for seven months.
“Taking cocaine during my time at Chelsea was the worst decision I could have made in my career,” Mutu tells Telegraph Sport. “I was alone and sad, but neither depression nor anything else justified my actions.
“I should have asked for help, and I didn’t. However, you learn from everything in life, and that lesson made me a better person – much more mature and self-aware. And I’m proud of that.”
Mourinho, his manager at the time, did not pull any punches in the media about Mutu’s behaviour, declaring: “I would never sign him again.”
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Mutu and Claudio Ranieri during the striker’s unveiling as a Chelsea player in 2003 - Getty Images/Alessandro Abbonizio
After a drawn-out affair with the Court of Arbitration for Sport that spanned several years, Mutu was forced to pay Chelsea back millions for breach of contract.
Despite protestations at the time, Mutu now reflects that his ban, which ultimately ended his Chelsea career, was fair.
“Zero tolerance – that was Chelsea’s policy regarding drugs. And I think that’s fair. I made a mistake, strayed from the path, and paid the price for it,” he says.
“I was caught off guard. I wasn’t used to that life. I was unprepared. I arrived at Chelsea during a turbulent time in my personal life, and I found myself caught up in too many excuses and lies. I was too young and too alone.”
Mutu adds he thinks he had the potential to be a Ballon d’Or winner if things had gone differently.
“I’ve reflected on that many times,” Mutu admits. “I believe that for more than a season, I was amongst the best players in the world, so I could have won it easily. But bad decisions prevented me from doing so. I try not to beat myself up about it.”
Chelsea have recently gone through another failed drug-test incident after Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk was provisionally suspended for failing a test in December last year for banned performance-enhancing substance meldonium. Mudryk denied knowingly breaking the rules, but has not played since and his future is unclear while an investigation takes place.
Few are better placed than Mutu to understand what he is going through.
“I don’t know what sanction he is facing, but I know he continues to defend his innocence,” Mutu says. “The only thing I can tell him is to focus on his return, not to lose the excitement of being the player he was not so long ago.”
Mutu is also eager to point out, especially to those in England, that he had a successful career after Chelsea. Mutu played in Italy for eight years which included spells at Juventus and Fiorentina. He worked under Marcello Lippi and Fabio Capello in that period. Mutu also scored 35 goals in 77 appearances for his country.
However, issues off the pitch continued to follow Mutu with another drugs ban handed out to him in 2010 while at Fiorentina and a temporary ban from playing for the Romania national team for a late-night drinking session while on international duty.
Nevertheless, he is regarded as a Fiorentina great, having scored more than 50 goals in five years there, rediscovering some of the form that attracted Chelsea to him in the first place.
“Italy put me on the international map, and after such a turbulent and conflicted period in England, it opened its doors to me again to continue my career. At Juventus, we won two league titles, but I was happiest at Fiorentina, where I regained my best form.”
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The Romanian says he ‘was happiest at Fiorentina’, where he scored more than 50 goals in five years - Getty Images/Ross Kinnaird
Should fans appreciate his comeback more?
“They should! It’s been 23 years since the Chelsea story, a lot of lies have been written about me then and over the years, especially in the press in your country,” Mutu says.
“I’m just tired of talking about it. I’ve moved on and they should, too. I left everything in the past, I was a child then and I paid for it. Since then I’ve been awarded many times, achieved many things and completely rebuilt my life and now I’m a grown man with a beautiful family and a promising coaching career.
“No one in your country has written about this! I wrote a book, and I’m currently filming a documentary about my life and other things. Yes, I’ve made a mistake back then, but I bounced back stronger and wiser. Lesson learnt.”
Coaching in England ‘would be a huge step in my career’
Since ending his playing career in 2016, Mutu, now based in Bucharest, has coached in various guises in Romania and most recently was manager at Petrolul Ploiesti in 2024. But he only lasted four months in the role.
“I started in Romania, at the end of my playing career in 2016. There was a month left in the season, the club – ASA Targu Mures – had fired the coach, and since it was difficult to find a replacement, management asked the senior players about the situation. There was a vote, and they decided I should take charge of the team. That was my first experience on the bench, and I liked it,” Mutu explains.
“I recently finished my time as a coach at Petrolul. It was a very short stint, barely three months. Professionally speaking, it was an unfortunate experience, but I hope to have learnt from it. Things didn’t work out in the locker room, and there was a lack of chemistry. However, I don’t live thinking that a victory is like a wedding and a defeat like a funeral.
“We probably weren’t on the same wavelength, and our energies didn’t align. I was criticised for being too professional. Seriously? The fact that I don’t spend much time in the locker room is because I want to show respect to the players. When I was a player, I didn’t like coaches coming into the locker room. The fact that I prefer not to bother the players doesn’t mean I’m arrogant.
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Mutu was most recently manager at Petrolul Ploiesti but only lasted four months in the role - Getty Images/Flaviu Buboi
“At my academy, we want to create good footballers but also good people,” he adds. “Developing the football side without the human side makes no sense. As a player, I was judged many times without being understood, and I learnt that I don’t want others to suffer the same way I did.
“As a footballer, I wasn’t able to see many things. I also wasn’t ready at the time. As the years went by, I realised the mistakes I made during that period. Do I regret it? I’d be lying if I said otherwise, but it was something I didn’t know how to handle. Now, I see everything from a different perspective.”
And could Mutu see himself coaching in England one day?
“It’s not something I lose sleep over, but… why not? England is the birthplace of the best football. Many of the top coaches today manage Premier League clubs, and foreign managers have made the league more interesting and better. Without a doubt, it would be a huge step in my career.”
Mutu’s career has had more twists and turns than most. His description of it is hard to argue with:“Remarkable and controversial.”
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