Nicolas Anelka

What was expected of him: A strong, pacy, precocious teenager who burst onto the scene following his £500,000 transfer to Arsenal in 1997, Nicolas Anelka was viewed as the best attacking prospect in European football at the time. An explosive two years with the Gunners saw Real Madrid spend £22,300,000 on the French striker, who was still just 20 years old. Part of a generation of superb, young, French footballers, which included Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, and Willy Sagnol, Nicolas Anelka was projected to be the man who would lead the line, and turn France into the dominant footballing nation during the 2000's.

What the world got: Nobody would ever claim that Nicolas Anelka has had an unsuccessful career, with his trophy cabinet being something most footballers only ever dream of. 4 league winner's medals, 3 FA Cups, a UEFA Champions League winner, and part of the French Euro 2000 winning side, Anelka certainly has the silverware of a champion. However, how much more could he have won, but for his attitude?

After making 12 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain between 1996 and 1997, scoring just the solitary goal, Arsene Wenger saw something he liked in the young Frenchman. He brought him to Arsenal in February 1997 and carefully prepared him for the 1997/98 season. Scoring his first goal for the Gunners against Manchester United at Highbury, Anelka seized his opportunity after an injury to Ian Wright, and established himself in the Arsenal first-team. 9 goals from 40 games in his first full season at the club, and winning the Double, gave some hint towards the player that was to come. The following year, the Frenchman scored 19 goals in 46 games, at just 19 years of age.

This was more than enough to convince Real Madrid that Nicolas Anelka was the real deal. With Anelka wanting a better contract, and fans branding him "Le Sulk", the summer of 1999 saw the Spanish giants purchase Anelka for £22,300,000, giving Arsenal a profit of £21,800,000. This was to become one of the first great sales by Arsene Wenger, as he would continue to make a habit of generating profit for the club through his transfer dealings.

As Arsenal quickly replaced Anelka with Thierry Henry, Real Madrid set about trying to reclaim the La Liga title from Barcelona with Raul, Fernando Morientes and Anelka in attack. Early in the season however, manager John Toshack was replaced by Vicente del Bosque, and Anelka's personal problems began to show. After refusing to train, he was suspended for 45 days, before redeeming himself towards the end of the campaign with 2 goals in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals against Bayern Munich. Real went on to win the final, beating Valencia 3-0, with Anelka playing 80 minutes, but the damage had already been done. 7 goals in 33 games for Real Madrid wasn't what Los Blancos fans had expected.

Anelka's performances were, though, enough to get him a place in the France squad for Euro 2000, and he started their first two group games. Substitute appearances in the third group game and quarter-final were followed by a start in the semi-final, as France beat Portugal 2-1 after extra-time. After failing to score in any of his previous 5 games in the tournament, Anelka was benched for the final in favour of Thierry Henry and Christophe Dugarry. France would win the final via a David Trezeguet Golden-Goal, and Anelka had another major honour to add to his rapidly growing collection.

Following the tournament, Paris Saint-Germain bid £20,000,000 for their former player, and Madrid snapped their fingers off. A return to France helped bring out some of the old Anelka, as he scored 13 in 37 in his first season back in France, playing alongside Jay-Jay Okocha and Laurent Robert. The following season, with Ronaldinho in the team, Anelka managed just 5 goals from 20 appearances before being loaned to Liverpool in January 2002.

His time in Liverpool wasn't filled with goals, only 5 in 22 games, but his work-rate and clever play allowed Liverpool's Michael Owen to have one of his best season in front of goal, and his effort was much appreciated by the Anfield crowd. Anelka helped Liverpool to, at that time, their highest ever standing in the Premier League, as they finished runners-up to Anelka's former team, Arsenal. At the end of the season though, Gerard Houllier decided not to sign Anelka on a permanent deal, instead bringing in El Hadji Diouf from RC Lens. The following year, Liverpool dropped to 5th, and many stated that the decision not to sign Anelka may have been the reason.

Once it became clear Liverpool wouldn't be signing him, Anelka instead moved to Manchester City for £13,000,000. Kevin Keegan's team had just won promotion to the Premier League, and planned to build their attack around the Frenchman. Anelka's time with City is perhaps seen as him at his best, and in his first season with the club he scored 14 league goals to help them finish 9th in the league. The following season, they finished 16th, despite his 24 goals in 43 games. By the time January 2005 had rolled around, Manchester City decided to sell up, after Anelka expressed a desire in the summer of 2004 not to return to England at all. He'd converted to Islam, and after originally deciding that he wanted a move to the United Arab Emirates, he instead got a move to Turkish club Fenerbahce for £7,000,000 after two and a half years, and 45 goals for Manchester City.

Anelka spent only 18 months in Turkey, helping Fenerbahce to a league title in his first season, and grabbing 16 goals in total during his time there. A move to Bolton Wanderers followed in the summer of 2006, when Sam Allardyce splashed out a club record £8,000,000 on the striker. Anelka quickly got back into the swing of English football, and Bolton were rewarded with 12 goals from 39 games in his debut season with the Wanderers. The following season, he'd scored 11 in 22 before Chelsea came calling during the January transfer window, paying £15,000,000 for him. Anelka's first season at Chelsea was filled with near-misses, and some would say, on an individual level, it was a complete disaster. Finishing the campaign with just 2 goals in 24 games, Anelka was also part of the Chelsea team which narrowly missed out on both the Premier League, and UEFA Champions League trophies in 2008.

With the scores level at 1-1, Anelka was substituted onto the pitch in Moscow 10 minutes into extra-time, in place of Joe Cole. Unable to find the net, the teams prepared for penalties, and after manager Avram Grant asked which players wanted to take a spot-kick, Anelka didn't raise his hand. In ordinary circumstances, this is fine, but with the teams level after 6 penalties each, Chelsea were fast running out of willing participants. After Ryan Giggs took, and scored, Manchester United's seventh from the spot, Anelka had little choice but to take one himself. Needing to score to keep Chelsea in with a hope, he followed a short run-up with a poor kick, and his shot was at the perfect height for goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to parry away.

Despite a bad start to his Chelsea career, the following season was Anelka's best in front of goal, as he scored 25 in all competitions, and finished as the Premier League's top scorer. He spent another two and a half years at the London club, helping them to a Premier League title and 2 FA Cups, but the majority of his playing time saw him out-wide in order to incorporate Didier Drogba.

Anelka headed to the World Cup, for the first time, with France in 2010. After a poor Euro 2008 for the side, France stumbled through the World Cup qualifiers, and controversially won the World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland. Anelka had scored the winner in the 1st leg, but it took a Thierry Henry handball to see France through the tie. Desperate for success, and hoping to go one better than the previous tournament, where they finished runner-up to the Italians, France couldn't afford any slip-ups. It wasn't to be, with almost everything going wrong for the French team. An opening draw with Uruguay was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Mexico. After the game, it emerged Anelka had reacted badly to the French manager's criticism of him at half-time, and reported told Coach Domenech "Go fuck yourself, dirty son of a whore." Following this, Anelka was sent home from the tournament early, sparking a mutiny amongst the remaining French players. Once the tournament ended, with France out at the group stage, Anelka was hit with an 18 match international ban, which wouldn't matter anyway, as Anelka decided to retire from international football.

After 184 games and 59 goals for the Blues, Anelka left for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League. After Anelka and team-mate Alex apparently requested transfers from Chelsea in November 2011, manager Andre Villas-Boas banned him from the first-team changing rooms and car park, and forced him to train with the youth team.

A salary of around £200,000 a week in China wasn't enough to help Anelka settle, and after just one season and 3 goals, he left the club after an angry exchange with a fan, when he refused to bow to the Shanghai supporters. Amidst rumours that the Chinese club hadn't paid wages to their stars, Anelka moved to Juventus in January 2013, playing only 2 league games (and 41 minutes) during their Serie A winning season.

Nicolas Anelka's career took in 10 different clubs, in 6 seperate countries, but he never developed into the truly world-class footballer he was seemingly destined to become during his time at Arsenal. 14 goals for his country puts him far behind many of the French forwards he competed with during his time at the top, with Thierry Henry, his replacement at Arsenal, becoming the country's leading scorer with 51 goals. David Trezeguet scored 34 goals, and Sylvain Wiltord bagged 26. He may have a bulging trophy cabinet, but it's important to remember how good Anelka was expected to become. He broke through around the same time as Michael Owen and Thierry Henry, yet was seen by many as the biggest prospect of them all after his performances with Arsenal.

His career total is 204 goals from 646 appearances at club level, and he only ever finished one season (2003/04) with an average of a goal every two games; often seen as the mark of a truly great striker. A Premier League Golden Boot, and the PFA Young Player of the Year award, are the best individual honours he managed, and he was nominated only once for the Ballon d'Or, gaining 0 votes. The majority of professionals would be ecstatic with these accolades, and there are some who will always claim Anelka was a great player. On his day, he certainly was, but he was expected to become so much more. His petulant attitude and maddening inconsistency cost him a truly glittering career.