The Rise And Fall Of Former Chelsea Star Adrian Mutu
Romania as a country is not popularly known for breeding top players but when it does, the player would surely make headlines either as a sublime talent, a temperamental player, or a stubborn one. The country has a long history of producing talented players but they would end up having some of these career-disturbing traits.
Players like Nicolae Dobrin (in the ’70s), Ilie Balaci (in the ’80s), and Gheorghe Hagi who played for the country in the’ 90s were all Romanian superstars and will all live long in the memory of Romanian fans as some of their best players.
One player who came into the limelight after the careers of the past players previously mentioned is Adrian Mutu. Mutu was a great attacking player who had a mixture of raw talent and personality. He was a bright genius on some occasions but on his bad day, he would turn out to be a huge disappointment.
He started his career at FC Arges, one of Romania’s top-tier teams back in 1996 at the age of 17. In the two seasons he played for the Romanian outfit, he featured in 41 games and scored 11 goals. However, things began growing sour between him and Arges when the club he supported as a kid, Steaua came knocking and showed their interest in snapping up the attacker. He was excited about the news and very much interested to make the move. He would then sign for his dream club, angering FC Arges fans in the process.
He continued his career journey and found himself at Chelsea eventually in a £22.5 million deal. He looked bright in his first few games for Chelsea as he scored four goals in his first three appearances. However, what started as a great Chelsea career ended in a disastrous fashion after Mutu tested positive for cosine and was banned from football for seven months. The decision ended his Chelsea career and he never became the same again.
Tags: Nicolae Dobrin