Premier League's Notorious Bad Boy's Bizarre Encounter with Transylvanian Adult Star

The former Premier League footballer, known more for his off-field scandals than his on-pitch talent, carved out a notorious reputation through years of wild behaviour. Adrian Mutu, once a Serie A sensation who found the net with remarkable ease in Italy, saw his career trajectory plummet upon his high-profile move to the English top flight. Joining cash-rich Chelsea in 2003, the Romanian forward soon became a headline fixture for all the wrong reasons.

Mutu, who recently turned 47, hails from a quiet background in Călinești, Romania, raised by a mathematician father and a mother who worked as a computer operator. This conventional upbringing offered little hint of the tumultuous path his life would take, marked by professional turmoil and a reported taste for unconventional sexual exploits.

His prolific scoring for Dinamo Bucharest first caught the eye of Inter Milan, prompting a move to Italy's Serie A. His stellar performances later at Parma even earned him a nomination for the prestigious Ballon d'Or. However, his £15 million transfer to Chelsea, personally sanctioned by owner Roman Abramovich after being identified as a prime target by then-manager Claudio Ranieri, ushered in a period of intense controversy.

It is an incident away from football for which Mutu is perhaps most infamously remembered during his stint in London. In 2004, he was embroiled in a scandal after being ensnared in a sting operation involving a Romanian adult film actress. His liaison with performer Laura Andresan dominated tabloids in his homeland, with reports alleging he sucked blood from a cut on the finger of the so-called 'Transylvanian temptress' before the pair engaged in intimate acts on a kitchen table.

Andresan claimed Mutu "sucked my blood like a vampire" after she injured her finger while preparing fruit. The actress, from Romania's historic Transylvania region, remarked: "I was very shocked—even though I'm from Transylvania."

Upon returning to pre-season training under new Chelsea boss José Mourinho, Mutu found himself out of favour, with rumours of his excessive partying preceding him. Mutu later alleged that the Portuguese manager showed clear preference for his new marquee signing, Didier Drogba.

Despite Abramovich's high hopes, Mutu made only two substitute appearances before another crisis erupted. Called up for international duty after what was reported as a three-week injury absence at Chelsea, Mutu publicly contradicted his manager, stating, "Mourinho said I was injured but it's not true. I have been fit for five days and he knew that." Mourinho swiftly retaliated, igniting a very public feud and slapping Mutu with a maximum club fine of £120,000.

The situation deteriorated irrevocably when Chelsea terminated Mutu's contract after he failed a drugs test, which detected cocaine in his system. The club released a strong statement: "Chelsea has a zero-tolerance policy toward drugs. This applies to both performance-enhancing and so-called 'recreational' substances. They have no place at our club or in sport."

The Football Association handed Mutu a seven-month ban from the game. Initially, the striker denied using cocaine, claiming he had only taken a substance to enhance his sexual performance. "I am not a drug addict," Mutu stated. "I categorically deny that... I took something to make me feel good." However, he later admitted to The Telegraph that he had indeed used cocaine, calling it "the worst decision I could have made in my career... I was alone and sad, but nothing justified my actions. I should have asked for help."

Dismissed for breach of contract, Mutu—who was married to Dominican model Consuelo Matos Gómez at the time, with whom he had two daughters before divorcing in 2015—believes his choices cost him the ultimate individual honour. "I've reflected on that many times," he said of the Ballon d'Or. "I believe for more than a season I was among the best players in the world... but bad decisions prevented me."

He resurrected his playing career in Italy with Juventus—though two league titles won there were later stripped due to the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal—but the legal fallout with Chelsea persisted. The club pursued him for £15.2 million in damages, a lengthy court battle that saw Mutu's final appeal dismissed in 2018, with Chelsea stating they continued to seek the owed sum.

Despite the disgrace, and a further nine-month ban in 2010 for testing positive for the appetite suppressant sibutramine while at Fiorentina, Mutu revived his form with 'La Viola', netting 54 times in 112 games. His off-pitch life remained colourful: he appeared in a music video with rap icon Snoop Dogg, depicted in a lavish club scene, yet also earned a law degree and expressed a passion for poetry.

He credited life in Florence with bringing him peace, eventually remarrying former model and Miss Romania contestant Sandra Bachici, who is 15 years his junior, and welcoming another child. "Florence is home for me," Mutu said. "People here love me and I have forgotten about the cocaine and my sad time in London."

While his agent relayed offers from Premier League clubs for a return to England, Mutu was resolute: "Without meaning any offence, I would not go back to London if they paid me a fortune in gold." He elaborated, "I've nothing against the English... and the Premier League is a great competition, but nowhere is as good as Florence for me."