Player Profile: Nicolas Anelka

Particulars
Name Nicolas Anelka
DOB 14 February 1979, Versailles, France
Height 185cm
Weight 77kg
Position Striker



Early Years and Going Pro

Versailles will not be remembered for football, but it can boast at least one son who has taken to the turf. Nicolas Anelka was born in the prosperous Parisian suburb in 1979, but in fact grew up in Trappes, a small, grey, unassuming town 13 miles to the west.

There, with no siblings of his age to play with - his two brothers are ten years older than him - he threw himself into sport: not just football, but tennis and athletics as well.

But football was his passion, and at the age of 14 he was considered adept enough to join the prestigious Clairefontaine youth academy. There he spent three years before moving up to join Paris Saint-Germain.

After just ten first team games for the capital club, he'd caught the eye of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, who paid £500,000 (670,000 euros) to bring the then-18-year-old across the channel.

London Calling

Arsenal waited some time before looking for a concrete product from their investment as young Nicolas watched his earliest Gunners games from the sidelines. As the player himself admitted later, these were difficult times, but displacing Bergkamp, Overmars and Wright was never going to be easy.

But Arsene Wenger was quite certain that he'd picked a winner, and this became clear as Anelka entered his second season at Highbury. He hit six goals in 26 appearances in the Premier League - not a superb total on the face of it, but when combined with his pace, power and accuracy in general, he began to cut a formidable figure.

His second season was simply excellent. In 1998-99, he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award after netting 17 times in 35 starts. For France, meanwhile, he'd managed his first goal. But something was missing.

'Le Sulk'

The British tabloids could hardly contain their excitement when, in 1999, Anelka took on - or was at least assigned - his 'sulky' persona. By this time he was more than just an established first-team player, and rumours began to circulate that Nico had issued an ultimatum to Arsenal: pay me more, or let me go.

It was said to be quite the outburst, but one that Anelka himself feels was misreported. Almost a decade later, the Frenchman would tell The Sun - one of his chief tormentors - "I am opening up more with age. The public are at last beginning to understand me. They have realised there has been a mistake about me as a person and about not liking the look of me."

In any case, he did secure a move away from Highbury, with Real Madrid his next destination. Signing on for over £22m (30 million euros), his time in Spain was not the best in terms of performances - he managed just two Liga goals in 19 appearances. However, he picked up a Champions League medal after starting in the 3-0 thrashing of Valencia in the final, which was appropriately enough held in Paris.

That would have been handy for his next transfer, for no sooner had he lifted the trophy than he was back at PSG for what would be another tumultuous period. All in all, Nico would impress in his second spell in Paris - most notably in Europe, managing 5 goals in 9 games in his first season back in the Champions League - but he could not help the intensely ambitious capital side to league success.

Up North

18 months in Paris had taken their toll, and once again the striker sought a fresh start, this time with Liverpool. This was to be arguably one of his least fruitful ports of call, with just four goals in his 20 league games at Anfield. International recognition also began to dry up to some extent, and Anelka's fame was in decline. Gerard Houllier opted not to offer his countryman a new deal, and Anelka took the short journey to Manchester to join Manchester City.

His two-and-a-half seasons at Maine Road/City of Manchester saw him return to form, with attack-minded manager Kevin Keegan determined to use Nico as the out-and-out centre forward that he was born to be. Internationally, Anelka was said by the French press to be at loggerheads with the Bleus management and coach Jacques Santini, who he felt could not get the best of his talents.

The "bad boy of French football", as he became known as in his home country, couldn't escape tabloid pressure seven once those in England had begun to die down to some extent. How much of this was of his own making is open to debate.

In any case, Manchester proved a happy hunting ground for Nicolas, who managed 15 league goals in his first campaign and then 17 in the second, making him the envy of more than a few top-half sides.

Around this time, Anelka - perhaps looking to shake off his troubled image and past - began to develop an interest in religion, encouraged by friends back home. He told The Guardian in 2004, "When I'm in Trappes I hang out with Muslims and we discuss religion a lot, sometimes until 4am in the morning. It has opened my mind." A formal conversion to Islam soon followed.

Maybe this helped Nico - or Abdul, as he can now be called - adopt a calmer outlook on life in general. But what it could not stop was his ambitious, restless nature.

The Happy Wanderer?

For midway through his third season in Manchester, Nico was off to Fenerbahce in order to regain his European reputation. January 2005 saw his arrival in Turkey, and there he was to remain until the summer of 2006.

But it wasn't quite the best of times. Another international humiliation followed when Anelka - despite declaring himself interested in doing so - was not taken to the World Cup, in which France finished as runners-up, by then and current coach Raymond Domenech.. Still, his stock was still high in England, and back he came to join reputed man-manager Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers.

Once again there was the inevitable settling-in period, but then came the goals. 11 in 35 was a fairly respectable total in his debut season at the Reebok, and one that helped the Trotters reach the 07-08 UEFA Cup.

But it was the Premiership contest of that season that was to really confirm Anelka as still having the talent needed to compete at the top level. By the opening of the transfer window, Anelka's positioning skills and deadly finish had brought him 10 goals in the Premier League, putting him behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor in the standings.

As such, he was a man very much in demand, although only one club's interest was to prove concrete. Thankfully for him, it was one that Nico could not say no to.

Back To London

Chelsea stepped in in January 2008 with a £12m bid, only for Bolton to reject it out of hand. However, the Blues maintained their interest, and eventually landed Nico for £15m on Friday, 11th January.

This was Anelka's eighth big move and his eighth club, his fifth in the Premiership. How he adapts to greater squad competition remains to be seen, but his days at Arsenal will have taught him well. In any case, with his development as a player has come some measure of versatility. Anelka can cut inside off the wing to great effect, using his footballing intelligence as well as his pace to stymie opposing defences. But what he has, above all, is a predatory right foot.

Did You Know?

In the summer of 2007, Anelka married Barbara Tausia at a civil ceremony in Paris, before jetting off to Marrakesh for an after-party attended by several of Nico's former teammates.