Nicolas Anelka
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80%Born
1979 (45 years old)
Birth Place
Le Chesnay, FrancePosition
Centre-Forward
Status
Retired
Ethnicity
Black
Team Number
Height
186 cm
Weight
77 kg
Outfitter
Kit
Side
Agent
Market Value
Free
Wage Year
Player Manager ID
2006171
Player Cutout
Player Action Render
Sport
SoccerTeam
_Retired Soccer
2nd Team
League
_No League Soccer
Creative Commons Artwork
Yes
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Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (French pronunciation: ; born 14 March 1979) is a French professional football manager and retired player who played as a forward. As a player, he regularly featured in his country's national team, often scoring at crucial moments. Known for his ability to both score and assist goals, he has been described as a classy and quick player, with good aerial ability, technique, shooting, and movement off the ball, and was capable of playing both as a main striker and as a second striker.
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. 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, he had brief stints at Shanghai Shenhua, Juventus,West Bromwich Albion and Mumbai City FC.
Anelka played 69 times at international level and won his first international honours with France at UEFA Euro 2000, and won 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.
At youth level, Anelka played for the French under-20 team at the 1997 World Youth Championship, and made his senior team debut for France in a goalless draw with Sweden national team on 22 April 1998. Anelka was not selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, but quickly became France's first choice centre forward during the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying campaign, scoring the opening goal in France's 3–2 win over Russia on his first international start and scoring both goals in a comfortable 2–0 win over England at Wembley Stadium in February 1999. Anelka made his first appearance in a major tournament at Euro 2000, which France went on to win. He also formed part of the squad which won the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he scored his only tournament goal in a 5–0 win over hosts South Korea in the opening game. In November 2002, he rejected an emergency call-up by Jacques Santini to face Serbia and Montenegro and was barred by the manager; in February 2004 he eyed a return for the UEFA Euro 2004 squad as Djibril Cissé was suspended.
In November 2005, now under, Raymond Domenech, Anelka returned to the France squad for a friendly against Costa Rica in Martinique. The match in the homeland of Anelka's parents was the team's first in the French Caribbean. He scored in the 3–2 win. When Cissé was forced out of 2006 World Cup due to injury, Lyon striker Sidney Govou was called up as Cissé's replacement rather than Anelka.
Anelka came on as a substitute in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Lithuania on 24 March 2007, and scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory. Following his performance, Anelka was praised by France manager Raymond Domenech: "It is the Nicolas I like to see... when he shows these qualities, he is a candidate for a permanent place." He also scored in the 2–0 victory against Ukraine on 2 June 2007.
Anelka featured in the France squad for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Anelka started France's first group game against Romania, but was substituted after 72 minutes. He did not start either of France's remaining two games in the tournament against the Netherlands and Italy, coming on as a substitute in both games.
Anelka played a key role in France's 2010 World Cup playoff against the Republic of Ireland. He scored the winning goal in the 72nd minute that put France in a good position with one away goal.
During the 2010 World Cup, Anelka was sent home after reportedly abusing coach Raymond Domenech at half-time during the 2–0 defeat to Mexico. Following criticism of his positioning by Domenech, Anelka is reported to have said, "Va te faire enculer, sale fils de pute," meaning, "Go fuck yourself, you dirty son of a whore." The incident was later reported by the media, and the player refused to publicly apologise when asked to do so by French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes. The next day, the squad refused to go to training in protest against Anelka's expulsion. Anelka was subsequently given an 18-game suspension from international football by the FFF as punishment for his actions, effectively ending his international career. Anelka later claimed to be "dying with laughter" at the 18-match ban, as he had already decided to retire from international play.
Anelka took L'Équipe to court for their front page, demanding €150,000 in compensation. He lost the case as he only denied the wording of the insult that was attributed to him, and not the fact that he made an insult. In a 2018 documentary, Domenech said that Anelka only insulted his management, not him as a person or his mother.
Career Honours
Career Milestones
Former Youth Teams
1995-1996 |
Former Senior Teams
|
1996-1997 |
1997-1999 |
1998-2010 |
1999-2000 |
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2000-2002 |
2001-2002 (Loan) |
2002-2005 |
2005-2006 |
2006-2008 |
2008-2012 |
2012-2013 |
2013 |
2013-2014 |
2014-2016 |
Former Club Staff
2012-2013 Assistant Manager |
2015-2015 Coach |
2021-2021 Manager |
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