Profile of Nicolas Anelka on Famous Like Me

Nicolas Anelka (born 14 March 1979 in Versailles) is a French football player playing in the forward position, currently for Fenerbahçe.

Previous clubs he has played for include Paris Saint-Germain (1996-97, 2000-02), Arsenal (1997-99), Real Madrid (1999-2000), Liverpool (2002) and Manchester City (2002-2005). He has played for Fenerbahçe since 2005.

At the age of 17, he joined Arsenal in November 1996 soon after the appointment of Arsène Wenger as manager. His first team opportunities were limited in the 1996-97 season but in 1997-98 he broke into the first team and was a key player in the Premiership/FA Cup double success. A player with exceptional pace and finishing ability, in 1998-99 he won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award, but the next year Arsenal lost defence of their double to Manchester United and Anelka was transferred to Spanish league champions Real Madrid.

Anelka spent just one season at Real Madrid, being in their European Cup winning squad. His inability to mix with his teammates and cope with media attention led to him leaving in the summer of 2000 to begin his second spell at Paris St Germain.

After one season at Paris St Germain, Anelka returned to the English Premiership, signing a one-year loan deal with Liverpool. But he failed to hold down a regular first team place and rejected Gerard Houllier's offer of a permanent deal. Instead he opted to join newly promoted Manchester City and the £12 million fee paid by manager Kevin Keegan was a club record.

In his three seasons at Manchester City, although scoring freely, the addition of Anelka to the club's squad hardly made a drastic difference to its playing fortunes. They finished ninth in 2002-03, 16th in 2003-04 and midway through the 2004-05 season they were looking set for a mid-table finish at best. There was increasing speculation as to whether Anelka was going to be transferred to a bigger club.

On January 27, 2005, the speculation ended when Manchester City announced that it had agreed to a fee for Anelka's transfer to Turkish power Fenerbahçe.

In August 2005 there was considerable speculation in the press that Anelka was being courted by Newcastle United for a return to English football but as yet this has not turned into reality.

Anelka has not been called up for international duty since 2002, since a fallout with the coach at the time, Jacques Santini, when he snubbed a call up for a friendly. He has won 28 caps for France, scoring six goals.

Honours

• 1997/98 FA Premier League
• 1997/98 FA Cup
• 1998/99 Charity Shield
• 1999/00 UEFA Champions League
• 2001 Confederations Cup
• 2001/02 UEFA Intertoto Cup
• 2004/05 Turkish Premier Super League

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