/ 22 October 2004

Mutu’s no mutt off the field

It would be tempting to lump Adrian Mutu, the latest footballer to find himself in hot water, with the rest of the got-rich-too-quick brigade. Tempting, but completely wrong.

When Mutu, aged 25, admitted taking cocaine earlier this week, his Romanian roots were examined all too briefly. Poor country, we thought. Poor education, we concluded.

But though he grew up in a land where money was a particularly scarce resource, Mutu’s case deserves further, rigorous examination.

The first hint as to the lad’s intelligence comes, according to The Times, from his boss at Verona, Alberto Malesani. He says: ‘Adrian is one of the most intelligent young men I have ever met, and I’m not just talking about footballers.

‘When he was with me he was eager and hard-working. Every day he would stay behind after training and ask me about the work we were doing, wanting to know, wanting to improve, to do everything he could to become a better professional.”

Then we hear about the childhood. This is not an ignorant kid (like Wayne Rooney from Toxteth or Paul Gascoigne from Dunston or George Best from Belfast) bowled over by the bright lights of London after his record £15,8-million move to Chelsea.

His parents, Spiridon and Rodica, were both computer engineers in a nation that avoided some of the poverty pitfalls suffered by communist countries.

His sister Laura has a PhD in mathematics. They used to sit together at the dining table solving equations … for laughs! David Beckham probably steered clear of such niceties. Mutu enrolled as a lawyer, taking a correspondence course at a major Bucharest university.

Of course, Mutu may not have heard about the last guy found to have a positive result for cocaine at the Chelsea training ground.

To this day, Mark Bosnich feels he was stitched up by the club. He failed the test and found himself booted out compensationless and unhappy after the club had found, in Carlo Cudicini, an adequate goalkeeping replacement for the high-living Australian.

Mutu finds himself in a similar situation. Slightly surplus to requirements, paid a lot of money, arguing with new boss Jose Mourinho. What better way to get the lad off the wage bill?

Even Roman Abramovich doesn’t like to burn his roubles. What a great reason to terminate Mutu’s contract, especially now that he has admitted to cocaine use ‘at a party”.

So Chelsea only revealed the positive test when they wanted to offload the player?

Mutu’s agent, Victor Becali, says: ‘This test was done in September. A lot of people back home think this is Chelsea’s revenge on Adrian.”