LONDON: Chelsea agreed a fee with Parma for their Romanian striker Adrian Mutu on Saturday as the English club's pre-season spending spree showed no sign of ending.

Chelsea said on its official website that it would now hold discussions with 24-year-old Mutu, one of Europe's most dynamic strikers.

No financial details of the deal were given but British media reports put the fee at 12 million pounds (US$19.32 million), which would take Chelsea's spending to more than 70 million pounds over the close season.

The west London club has wielded enormous spending power since its takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich at the start of July. Coach Claudio Ranieri has already spent over 58 million pounds on new players.

Earlier this week Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron joined from Manchester United for 15 million pounds along with England midfielder Joe Cole who cost 6.6 million pounds from West Ham United.

Chelsea's other signings are Ireland winger Damien Duff from Blackburn Rovers for 17 million pounds, West Ham defender Glen Johnson (up to 6.0 million), Cameroon midfielder Geremi (6.9 million) and England defender Wayne Bridge (7.0 million).

They will expect quickly to tie up terms with Mutu, who only last month was named club captain at Parma for the new season.

Spectacular goals

The Romanian international first caught the eye as a youngster at Dinamo Bucharest.

After a prolific first season at the Romanian club he moved to Inter Milan midway through the 1999/2000 campaign.

There his first-team opportunities were limited but Mutu was still part of the Romania squad at Euro 2000 where he produced some impressive performances.

Inter moved him on to Verona where he did well over a two-year spell in a struggling side. After joining Parma last season he instantly struck up an impressive partnership with Brazilian striker Adriano, scoring 14 goals in 30 games.

Frequently linked in the past with a move to Juventus, Mutu combines fine dribbling skills with an eye for scoring spectacular goals.

Chelsea's move for the Romanian came after they were linked with Inter's Italian striker Christian Vieri.

At Chelsea Mutu, who is effectively a replacement for departed striker Gianfranco Zola, will battle with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Mikael Forssell for a place in attack.

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 08/11/2003 page8)