Adriano profile: 10 things you need to know about the West Ham target and bad boy of Brazilian football

By Dan Silver in Football Spy

Published 23:00 14/10/09

Is Brazilian superstar Adriano on his way to Upton Park?

The former Inter Milan striker could just be the answer to the Hammers goal shortage so here's MirrorFootball's guide to the man from Rio...

1) Adriano Leite Ribeiro was born on February 17th, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro

2) He broke into Brazilian side Flamengos youth squad as an 18-year-old and scored 14 goals in 45 appearances, helping the side to the Rio State Championship in 2000 and 2001 and the Champions Cup in 2001, before moving to Inter Milan later that year.

3) After a brief but successful loan spell at Fiorentina, he made his name in Italy during an extended two year spell at Parma. After forming a lethal strike partnership with another bad boy Adrian Mutu, later of Chelsea infamy, Adriano scored an astonishing 22 goals in 36 appearances.

4) He took that form back with him upon returning to the San Siro in 2004, scoring 15 goals in his first 16 appearances for the senior side, and rattling in 40 goals in all competitions between July 2004 and June 20005. Inter fans nicknamed him the Emperor, on the strength of goals like this:

5) He became a hero for the national team too, helping Brazil claim the 2004 Copa America title and walking off with the Golden Ball for the Player of the Tournament in the process.

6) He was also named the Player of the Tournament at the 2005 Confederations Cup after finishing the competition as top scorer with five goals. Two of them came in the 4-1 final victory over hated rivals Argentina. You can see the highlights below

7) He was rewarded with a new deal at Inter in September 2005 which, coincidentally or not, is where it all began to go wrong. He still scored a reasonable 19 times in 47 appearances that season, but was twice pictured partying at nightclubs during the 2006/07 campaign.

8) Brazil manager Dunga dropped him from the national squad in October 2006, saying that Adriano needed to change his behaviour" and "focus on football". Five months later he was dropped by Inter after excessive birthday celebrations caused him to miss training ahead of a crucial Champions League tie.

9) Inter sent him back to a fitness centre in Brazil on unpaid leave in November 2007 after Adriano admitted to alcohol-related problems following the death of his father. He was eventually loaned to Sao Paulo where, after a successful start, he was sent off for headbutting an opponent. The Brazilian side sent him back to Inter ahead of schedule.

10) After failing to return from international duty in April 2009, Adriano eventually rescinded his Inter contract and returned to his first club Flamengo. The striker appears to have rediscovered his form, notching 15 goals in 22 league games. But has Adriano exorcised his off-field demons? Let's hope Spurs don't find out the hard way...

The 2005 Confederations Cup final