Nicolas Anelka

Nicolas Anelka

Anelka playing for Chelsea F.C.
Personal information
Full name	Abdul-Salam Bilal (Nicolas Sébastien Anelka)
Date of birth	14 March 1979 (age 32)
Place of birth	Versailles, France
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker / Winger
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	39

Nicolas Anelka

Abdul-Salam Bilal (born Nicolas Sebastien Anelka French pronunciation: [nikɔla anɛlka];) on 14 March 1979)[6] is a French international footballer, who plays as a striker for English Premier League club Chelsea. Anelka was also a regular starter for the French national team. Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has described him as a quick player with good aerial ability, technique, shooting, and movement off the ball.

Anelka began his career at Paris Saint-Germain, but soon moved to Arsenal. He became a first team regular and won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award the following season. Real Madrid signed him for £22.3 million in 1999, a record fee at the time, but he did not settle in well and returned to Paris Saint-Germain in a £20 million deal. Despite regular first team football in Paris, Anelka set his eyes upon the Premier League once more; he went on loan to Liverpool in January 2002 but joined Manchester City for £13 million at the start of the 2002–03 season.

After three seasons in Manchester, he moved to Fenerbahçe for two seasons before returning to England to join Bolton Wanderers – in deals worth £7 million and £8 million, respectively. He transferred to Chelsea from Bolton for a reported £15 million in January 2008. During his transfers over the years, he has built an aggregate transfer cost of just under £90 million. He is one of only three players to have won the Premier League with two different clubs.[citation needed]

Anelka has played many times at international level and won his first international honours with France at Euro 2000, and won the Confederations Cup the following year. His failure to settle at club level limited his international appearances, but he returned to the national team for the Euro 2008 competition.

On 19 June 2010, Anelka was excluded by the French Football Federation from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa for "comments directed against the national coach, Raymond Domenech, unacceptable to the FFF, French football, and the principles they uphold." Two months later, having failed to turn up to his disciplinary hearing, he was banned for France's next eighteen games by the FFF, effectively ending his international career.


Source: Wikipedia