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Nicolas Sebastien Anelka, a French international footballer was born in Versailles, France on 14 March 1979. He started his football carrier in 1995 for Paris Saint-Germain where he scored just a solitary goal in 10 appearances. In 1997 he moved to Arsenal for £500,000. His first goal was against champions Manchester United. He won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award for his performance in the 1998-99 season in which he had scored 17 goals (One less for the golden boot). He was nicknamed "Le Sulk" after speculation of him threatening to leave Arsenal for a better a better salary elsewhere.
In 1999, he was signed by nine time UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid for £22.3 million pounds. His stay at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu was short lived due to lack of discipline as coach, Vicente del Bosque suspended him for 45 days for refusing to train. After a year with Los Galacticos he returned to his youth club Paris Saint-Germain in France for £20 million. During his tenure in PSG, he struck a loan deal with Liverpool in 2002 where he scored 4 goals in 20 appearances. However Gérard Houllier (Liverpool’s coach) did not offer a permanent deal. He offered it to Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf (who is another Anelka in the making). Anelka was eying England again and he was successful in catching the eye of Kevin Keegan who was a part of newly promoted Manchester City .
£13 million was paid by Manchester City which was their club record transfer for any player. Looked like Anelka settled in with Manchester City with 37 goals in just 89 matches. This was the longest he had ever stayed in a club since he joined in 2002. Being Anelka he had to switch clubs again, this time it was Fenerbahçe the Turkish club for £7 million in 2005. He helped Fenerbahçe that very season to win the Turkcell Süper Lig. He scored 14 goals in 39 appearances. After just a year with the Sarı Kanaryalar, it was time again for a change. In 2006, the English Premier side Bolton Wanderers signed Anelka for £8 million.
After a year with The Wanderers Anelka signed a new 4 year contract with them till 2011. That’s not like Nicolas Anelka. After scoring 21 goals in 53 appearances, Anelka wanted to go back to London to his former club Arsenal. He got an offer from London alright, but from rivals Chelsea. In 2008, a £15 million bid from Chelsea brought Anelka back to the London. So far he has scored 20 goals in 51 appearances for Chelsea. Will Anelka leave The Blues and join Manchester City or any club which pays him more? We will have to wait and watch.
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