Juventus striker Adrian Mutu, who has seen his career revived at Juventus following an eight month ban for drug offences, hopes to encourage young players to learn from his example.
Mutu’s was sacked by Chelsea a year ago after he tested positive for cocaine.
But Juventus decided to give him another chance and signed the Romania international on a free transfer in January 2005.
On Saturday he scored both goals in Juve’s 2-1 win at Palermo which took them nine points clear at the top of Serie A.
“I’m a new man and I can’t thank the club enough,” the 27-year-old forward told the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Now I really feel like a Juventus player. I was very happy to score, but more importantly the goals helped us win. This team gives nothing away and we want to win everything.
“At Christmas, for the first time in more than a year, I felt right. I said to myself: ‘You’re through it.’ The bad memories will give me strength for the challenges ahead.
“I’m proud of my transformation, it’s an example of bad and good. Whether we like it or not, we footballers are role models for the youngsters and my story shows that we can can make mistakes.
“But what is important is how we react. You’ve got to pick yourself up and learn from your errors.”
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