Chelsea are looking to finally get some compensation for one of the biggest scandals in European football. The Blues are determined to take legal action against Livorno and Juventus in order to recover at least half of the amount spent on Adrian Mutu, who later on had to leave Stamford Bridge after testing positive for cocaine. This is a last resort for Abramovich considering the fact that the Romanian international, who is now playing for Ajaccio, has already failed to comply even if he is obligated by Swiss courts to pay 17.2 million euros as compensation for not honoring his contract with the club.

Chelsea were obligated to terminate Mutu’s contract 9 years ago after blood tests revealed he was using cocaine. The Romanian left London and had to respect his 7 month punishment, which banned him from playing any official match. After his ban was lifted he ended up playing for Juventus, but had to sign with Livorno first because the bianconeri had too many overseas players already signed.

After Mutu’s failure to comply with Swiss court rulings, Chelsea directed their legal actions towards both Italian sides, especially because the Romanian was sold to Fiorentina for 6 million euros. Mutu cost the Blues 16 million pounds and now Abramovich is hoping to at least recover the money that resulted after his transfer to Florence, which according to the London based club should be returned to them considering the fact that no transfer fee was paid when Mutu signed with Juventus.

According to London Evening Standard, this nine year long dispute looks far from over. Chelsea have been trying to claim some of Mutu’s assets, but failed because most of his properties are not UK based. They are currently trying to get a hold of three of the Romanian’s properties that are situated in Miami, but the process is complicated considering the differences that govern overseas legal systems.