Zenit Saint Petersburg's new 10 million-euro offer for Fiorentina's Romanian forward Adrian Mutu (30) was revealed by Firenzeviola.it.
Although Russian media sources are skeptical on the news, a key factor of these negotiations lies in the fact that Russian oil industrial colossus Gazprom (which owns Zenit) is also a very close business partner of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, to whom Mutu owns a 17 million-euro indemnity for his cocaine abuse (while he was playing for Chelsea). In case the negotiations would reach a positive outcome, Mutu would plead with Abramovich himself in order to write off the debt.
Regardless of the above, Mutu is now focused on the Champions League playoffs against Sporting Lisbon (the two matches are scheduled for August 18 and 26) and could consider leaving afterwards (especially if Fiorentina get knocked out).