Former Chelsea star Adrian Mutu has opened his problems from the field that derailed his career in West -London.
Mutu spent only a year in West -last after he had fallen out with Jose Mourinho and was banned from football for eight months after testing positive on cocaine use.
It was a nightmare period for the former Romanian international, who did not succeed in meet the high expectations that were placed after sealing a relocation of the Italian side parma.
Now Mutu has thought about his drug ban and insisted that if he hadn't taken the material, he could have won the Ballon d'Or.
In an interview with De Telegraaf, Mutu said: 'Taking cocaine during my time at Chelsea was the worst decision I could have made in my career.
'I was alone and sad, but neither depression nor something else justified my actions. Zero -Tolerance – that was Chelsea's policy with regard to drugs. And I think that's fair.
'I made a mistake, wandered off the path and paid the price for it. I was overwhelmed. I was not used to that life. I was unprepared.
'During a turbulent time I arrived in Chelsea in my personal life, and I was entangled in too many apologies and lies. I was too young and too alone.
“I often think about that. I believe that I was among the best players in the world for more than a season, so I could easily have won it. But bad decisions prevented me from doing this. I don't try to beat myself up. '
Mutu arrived for the first time in the most important competitions of Europe at Inter Milan and joined in January 2000 as a 20-year-old, before he was in Parma three years later, through a year in Hellas Verona.
At Parma, however, Mutu's promising talent began to become an impressive capacity for the goal that was encouraged by trust in his highest technical skills, which was worth more than € 10 million (around £ 16 million adjustment for inflation) that they paid.
He scored 22 goals in 36 games in 2002-03 before he was moving again. His sensational turnout brought him to the Premier League, where Roman Abramovich had just taken over Chelsea.
Towards the end of 2003, Mutu had even reached appliance to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or – the largest individual prize of football – with the same number of voices as legends Ronaldinho, Filippo Inzaghi, Jan Koller and Francesco.
Unfortunately it was not to last. In fact, he would only score two more goals in the competition in the following 22 games, which quickly turned from the Premier League sensation, to disappointing Chelsea Flop -and the arrival of Jose Mourinho in the summer of 2004 would cause the end of his career in West -London.
Mourinho reportedly caught the wind of Mutu's party -boy -lifestyle – not that they were difficult to miss – and more or less a decision.
Despite the insistence of Abramovich that Mutu was not for sale, the player was exiled to the depths of the bank after a reported bus-up in the preseason on suspicions that the player used cocaine.
He then tested positively on cocaine use in September 2004 and received a ban of seven months from football that brought an end to his time in West London.
The end of the line in Chelsea brought a new beginning. His former club started the hunt for a record £ 15.2 million in compensation, but Mutu found a route back to football with Juventus, although he was unable to make his debut until the last match of the 2004-05 season.
Comments