Mutu relishes Viola responsibility

Fans of ACF Fiorentina know a thing or two about iconic forwards. The club where Gabriel Batistuta earned legend status and, more recently, Luca Toni terrorised Serie A defences now regards Adrian Mutu as its on-field figurehead and the Romania striker is more than happy to accept the responsibility.

'Sense of responsibility'
Speaking ahead of Thursday's UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg against PSV Eindhoven, Mutu said it brought the best out of him knowing that his team-mates looked to him for inspiration. "When you are important for a team it's a mixture of feelings: pride, fear, a desire to do well," he said. "For a player like me, this means trying even harder in what you do. It gives me a sense of responsibility and I'll do all I can to help us win against a team who are at a high level and have come from the Champions League."

Joint-top scorer
Mutu remains Fiorentina's joint-top scorer in the competition with three goals, despite having missed both legs of the Round of 16 tie against Everton FC because of injury. Having recaptured his best form with the Viola, following a drugs ban during his time at Chelsea FC then subsequent move to Juventus, he is relishing their present push for a top-four finish in Serie A and glory in the UEFA Cup.

Ambitious
"We all want to take Fiorentina forward in Europe," said the 29-year-old, who has scored 31 goals in 57 league appearances for the Viola. "Not just me but all the boys, we want to go on in the UEFA Cup and get fourth place in the league. We are ambitious. We'll go out on to the pitch determined to do well and when there's that type of desire the result comes more easily. You have to really believe." Asked whether he was happy following in the footsteps of Batistuta and Toni, Mutu smiled and said he saw his long-term future in Florence but he soon returned to a more pressing matter – the UEFA Cup. "There are four matches to the final. We want to realise this dream for ourselves and for the fans," he said.

Farfán interest
Curiously, before Fiorentina signed Mutu in summer 2006, they made enquiries about the forward that Luciano Spalletti has singled out as PSV's danger man, Jefferson Farfán. The Peruvian international, who struck the Dutch champions' winner away to Tottenham Hotspur FC in the last round, recalled Fiorentina's interest when he told reporters: "They were interested in me but we could not reach an agreement. At the moment I'm very happy at PSV and that's what I'm thinking about." The 23-year-old went on to predict an awkward evening for PSV at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. "From what I've seen of them, it will be a very difficult game for us," he said. "They are a good team with forwards like Mutu and they like to attack a lot."