Juventus sign former

Serie A leaders Juventus have signed former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu on a five-year contract, the club announced on Wednesday.

The Romania forward, sacked by the West London club in October after testing positive for cocaine, is serving a seven-month ban but will be able to play in the last two rounds of Serie A matches when his suspension ends on May 18.

The 26-year-old played for 3-1/2 seasons in Italy8217;s top flight after being signed by Inter Milan from Dinamo Bucharest in January 2000. He went on to play for Verona and Parma.

He was most successful in the 2002-03 season when, alongside Brazilian striker Adriano, Mutu formed the most prolific strike partnership in Serie A as Parma finished fifth. His exploits brought him to the attention of Chelsea, who bought him for 15.8 million pounds 29.79 million in 2003.