Nicolas Anelka

Lore & Background

Anelka began his career at Paris Saint-Germain, but soon moved to Arsenal. At Arsenal, he won the 1997–98 Premier League and FA Cup double. He became a first team regular and won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award the following season. He moved to Real Madrid for £22.3 million in 1999. He was part of the Real Madrid team that won the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League, but he did not settle in well and returned to PSG in a £20 million deal. Despite regular first team football in Paris, Anelka set his eyes upon the Premier League once more, moving on loan to Liverpool in January 2002 before joining Manchester City for £13 million at the start of the 2002–03 season. After three seasons in Manchester, he moved to Turkish club Fenerbahçe for two seasons, before returning to England to join Bolton Wanderers in deals worth £7 million and £8 million respectively. He was then transferred to Chelsea from Bolton for a reported £15 million in January 2008. At Chelsea, he won one Premier League title and two FA Cup trophies, as well as played in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League final where he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout. In 2009, he won the Premier League Golden Boot award as the league's top goalscorer. During his transfers over the years, he has built an aggregate transfer cost of just under £90 million. After leaving Chelsea in 2012, he had brief stints at Shanghai Shenhua, Juventus, West Bromwich Albion and Mumbai City. Anelka played 69 times at international level and won his first international honours with France at UEFA Euro 2000, also winning the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup the following year. His failure to settle at club level limited his international appearances, but he returned to the national team for Euro 2008. On 19 June 2010, he was excluded by the French Football Federation (FFF) from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa for 'comments directed against the national coach, Raymond Domenech.' He did not play again for the national team.

In Their Own Story

The Parc des Princes, a humid summer evening in 1998. The stands are a sea of blue, white, and red, and the air hums with the kind of electricity that only a home World Cup can produce. On the pitch, a 19-year-old in the number 9 shirt receives a through ball just inside the opponent's half. He doesn't look up. He doesn't check his shoulder. He simply accelerates, and the gap between him and the goalkeeper opens like a wound. The crowd's roar swells, then falls silent for a half-second as he plants his left foot and drives the ball into the top corner. He doesn't celebrate. He jogs back to the centre circle, cheeks flushed, eyes already scanning the next phase. Around him, veterans nod. The boy from Paris has done it again, and for one breathless moment, the entire nation believes the future is his.

Reader's Guide

Anelka was not selected for the 1998 World Cup-winning squad. His international debut and first honours came at UEFA Euro 2000. He converted to Islam in 2004, taking the name Abdul-Salam Bilal. He performed the quenelle gesture in 2013 while at West Bromwich Albion, which led to a five-match ban and termination of his contract. He has acted in the 2002 film Le Boulet and has been the subject of documentaries including the 2020 Netflix film Anelka: Misunderstood.

Did You Know?

• Anelka was not part of France's 1998 World Cup-winning squad.
• He won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2009 while at Chelsea.
• He converted to Islam in 2004 and took the name Abdul-Salam Bilal.
• He performed the quenelle gesture in 2013, which led to a five-match ban and contract termination.
• He acted in the 2002 film Le Boulet as a footballer named Nicolas.