That season emerging international talents such as Adrian Mutu, Mauro Camoranesi, Alberto Gilardino, Martin Laursen, Massimo Oddo, Marco Cassetti and coach Alberto Malesani failed to capitalize on an excellent start and eventually dropped into fourth-to-last place for the first time all season on the very last matchday, enforcing relegation into Serie B.

* 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer

* Adrian Mutu: footballer

He scored only 11 goals in 27 games in 2002-03, though in the next season he scored 17 goals in all competitions which, despite the arrival of new strikers Adrian Mutu and Hernán Crespo, made him top scorer at the club for the third time in four years.

Following the enforced relegation to Serie B, the club lost several of its star players, including Fabio Cannavaro to Real Madrid, Gianluca Zambrotta to FC Barcelona, Adrian Mutu to Fiorentina, and Zlatan Ibrahimović to Internazionale.

These signings included Irish winger Damien Duff for a then club record £ 17 million, English youngsters Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole, and Glen Johnson, Argentine pair Juan Sebastián Verón and Hernán Crespo, Frenchman Claude Makélélé and Romanian star Adrian Mutu.

Hagi's powers were waning, Dumitrescu and Rǎducioiu were no longer on the scene and hopes were pinned on young Internazionale forward Adrian Mutu.

In their next game against Italy, Adrian Mutu, playing for Italian club ACF Fiorentina, opened the scoring early in the second half.

Furthermore, various problems were caused during the poor campaign, such as the retirement from international football of Cosmin Contra, Mirel Radoi and Adrian Mutu ( the latter would be later called again after a year ).

Dinamo won the title in the 1999-2000 with Adrian Mutu playing for them but lost to Polonia Warszawa in the second qualification round of the UEFA Champions League 1999-00 mostly because they sold most of the players in the Summer Mercato.

After the arrival of Roman Abramovich as the owner of Chelsea in 2003, and the subsequent influx of expensive and high-profile players including Adrian Mutu, Didier Drogba and Hernán Crespo, his first team place seemed under threat.

With the arrival of former Milan striker Alberto Gilardino, Prandelli opted for Adrian Mutu and Gilardino to form a striking partnership, reducing Pazzini to a backup player role.

However, Prandelli did not manage to repeat such successes at the domestic stage, with things being made even more complex by his key player Adrian Mutu being suspended due to doping-related issues.

FC Argeș was represented by a number of outstanding players in the last decades, like Nicolae Dobrin, Adrian Mutu, Nicolae Dică and Marin Radu.

His two partners in attack were the future big-names, Adrian Mutu ( currently playing for ACF Fiorentina ), and Mauro Camoranesi ( later signed by Juventus, now playing for Club Atlético Lanús ).

Frick and other international talents such as Adrian Mutu, Mauro Camoranesi, Alberto Gilardino, Martin Laursen, Massimo Oddo, Marco Cassetti and coach Alberto Malesani failed to keep the club in the top flight.

In the last 2 match of the group stage, Santana played a new role, as attacking midfielder, as Adrian Mutu was rested.

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