Fri Jul 25 15:02:57 2008

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Fiorentina rejects Roma's offer for Mutu

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Florence, Italy (Sports Network) - Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli is delighted to have seen his club reject a major offer from Serie A rivals Roma for star striker Adrian Mutu.

Prandelli was concerned that he would be left with little time to find a replacement for Mutu, who has scored 38 goals in two seasons with La Viola.

"It's true that I was worried," Prandelli told La Repubblica. "But inside I never doubted that it would end like this. It wasn't simple optimism, but logic.

"If you spend over [$100] million on reinforcing a squad and there are 20 days left before the Champions League preliminaries, then it doesn't make sense to sell your main man.

"The president is a wily man and I want to thank him for his efforts."

Mutu had been linked with a move to German club Schalke earlier this summer, while the Florence club are reported to have rejected an offer in the region of $32 million from Roma.

(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)