Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (; born 14 March 1979) is a French professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and retired

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who played as a forward. As a player, he regularly featured in his country's

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, 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 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Anelka began his career at

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, but soon moved to Arsenal. 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, but 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 The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

once more, moving on loan to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in January 2002, but 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. In 2009, he won the

Premier League Golden Boot The Premier League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, it was called the Carling Golden Boot from 1994 to 2001, the Barclaycard Golden Boot from ...

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. On 12 December 2011,

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

announced that they had reached an agreement with Anelka to join the team in the winter

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

. After one season there, Anelka joined Italian side Juventus on a six-month loan deal in 2013, after which he was released from Shanghai and signed for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

on a free transfer. Following his dismissal by West Brom, he signed for Mumbai City FC as a marquee player and was named player-manager in 2015. Anelka played 69 times at international level and won his first international honours with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

, 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 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

. 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 Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech (; born 24 January 1952) is a French football manager and former player. He managed the France national team from 2004 to 2010, reaching the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. He was dismissed after their elimination from ...

, 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 18 matches by the FFF, 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.

Early and personal life

Anelka was born in

Le Chesnay Le Chesnay () is a former commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, fr ...

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

in 1974. Thereafter, they settled in

Trappes Trappes () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines departments of France, department, region of Île-de-France, north-central France. It is a banlieue located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris, i ...

, near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. His childhood friends from Trappes include the actors

Omar Sy Omar Sy (, ff, 𞤌𞤥𞤢𞤪 𞤅𞤭, Omar Si; born 20 January 1978) is a French actor, best known in France for his sketches with Fred Testot on the '' Service après-vente des émissions'' television show on Canal+ (2005–2012). He gain ...

and

Jamel Debbouze Jamel Debbouze (; ar, جمال دبوز, Jamāl Dabūz; born 18 June 1975) is a French-Moroccan actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer and director. Best known for his stand-up comedy sketches, he also worked with director Alain Chabat in ...

. His mother is a secretary in the local high school."Nicolas Anelka: de Trappes à Wembley"
(in French). Le Point. 20 February 1999. Anelka is married to Barbara Tausia, a Belgian choreographer. Together, they have two sons, Kais, born in 2008, and Kahil, born in 2010. He acted in the 2002 film '' Le Boulet'' as a footballer named Nicolas. He has said that when he retires from football, he would like to work in the film industry because he has a friend in the business. He said, "I have a friend who's a producer, who makes lots of films. He recently did ''Astérix''. So it's already agreed that I'm going to do other films. It helps to know actors and producers. It's different to football and it's something I enjoy very much because there's no ball. I like pretending to be somebody else, it's fun." Anelka has two brothers, Claude and Didier. After discussing religion with some childhood friends, Anelka converted to Islam in 2004 in the United Arab Emirates, taking the Muslim name of "Abdul-Salam Bilal". Anelka has said that he initially fasted during daylight hours as is required for the Muslim month of Ramadan, but "I realised I often got injured just after the period of Ramadan, so I don't observe it strictly any more". Initially, Anelka considered leaving European football to play in the UAE: "I am ready to stay here and to play for a club in the Emirates. I am not keen to go back to England or France." However, this did not come to pass and he briefly moved to Turkey instead, as well as three more English clubs. Anelka is also known for his controversial relationship with French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala and attracted widespread condemnation after performing the '' quenelle'' hand gesture, created by M'bala and regarded as anti-Semitic, on the pitch when playing for

in 2013. Anelka responded that the gesture was anti-establishment, not anti-Semitic. An FA disciplinary hearing nonetheless banned Anelka for five matches, but found that he was not anti-Semitic and had not intended the gesture to express or promote anti-Semitism. After West Brom suspended him pending their own investigation, Anelka was given notice of termination of his contract by the club due to the club and player being unable to come to terms over the conditions required for the suspension by the club to be lifted, as well as comments made by Anelka on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. In 2020, Anelka said the ''quenelle'' was only a protest against his former manager

Steve Clarke ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, who is not Jewish. Anelka has been the subject of the 2012

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

documentary ''L'Entrée des Trappistes'' about his friendship with Sy and Debbouze, and the feature-length 2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

documentary '' Anelka: Misunderstood''.

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

Anelka began his career at

as a youth player at age 16.

Arsenal

In February 1997, at age 17, Anelka joined

club Arsenal for a £500,000 transfer fee under newly appointed manager Arsène Wenger. The transfer caused controversy in France as Arsenal sought to sign him for free under the precedent of the recent Bosman ruling, despite there being exceptions for players under the age of 24; Wenger said this age restriction was only for domestic transfers. His first team opportunities were limited in the 1996–97 season, but in 1997–98, he broke into the first team after a long-term injury to striker

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

. In November 1997, Anelka scored his first goal for Arsenal in a 3–2 home win against Manchester United. Anelka was a key player in Arsenal's Double win of both the

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

that season. Anelka scored the second goal in Arsenal's 2–0 win over Newcastle United in that season's

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

. Anelka was Arsenal's top scorer in the 1998–99 season with 17

goals. This form saw him voted the

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...

, but Arsenal failed to defend their Premier League and FA Cup titles and made little progress in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. Fans turned on the striker amid transfer speculation and a perceived lack of enthusiasm, giving him the nickname ''"Le Sulk''". During the close season, Anelka stated a desire to leave Arsenal, claiming the British press was responsible for his unhappiness in England. On 2 August 1999, he joined Real Madrid. With regard to his time with ''the Gunners'', Anelka later said he believes he should have never left Arsenal, a club that he has great "love" for. Of his former boss at Highbury, Arsène Wenger, Anelka is a huge admirer and a strong supporter of him. Anelka also placed at 29th in the club's compilation of the 50 Greatest Gunners of all-time. In all, he made 90 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 28 goals altogether for the club.

Real Madrid

In the summer of 1999, Anelka moved to Real Madrid for a £22.3 million transfer fee. He took time to score for the club; on a visit to the football tabloid '' Marca'' he played a ''FIFA'' game with the staff, who then released the mocking front-page headline "Anelka finally scores a goal...on a video game". He failed to score for Real Madrid in his first five months at the club, eventually recording his first goal in the opening match of the FIFA Club World Championship against

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

on 5 January 2000. Two days later, he scored twice against

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

in the same competition, also missing an 81st-minute penalty kick that would have given him a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. On 28 February 2000, Anelka scored his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

goal in a 3–0 defeat of rivals

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in ''

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...

'' at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...

. However, in March, he was suspended by club president Lorenzo Sanz after refusing to train, because of a disagreement with head coach

Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...

. After returning to the team, Anelka scored in both legs of the Champions League semi-final to give ''Los Blancos'' a 3–2 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich and advance to the competition final. He started in the final, held at the Stade de France in his home city of Paris, as Real Madrid ran out 3–0 winners over

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

to win an eighth European Cup.

Return to Paris-Saint Germain

Anelka signed a six-year professional contract at Paris Saint-Germain in July 2000, a return to the club at which he used to play as a youth player, in a transfer deal worth £22 million. The Paris club had finished second in Ligue 1 that season, thereby qualifying for the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League. Anelka's return was met with much fanfare. Canal Plus, which owned Paris Saint-Germain, financed the transfer, while PSG sponsor

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

covered much of Anelka's compensation of £30–35,000 ''per'' week. Anelka started well and was appointed captain of a team that was briefly at the top of

2000–01 French Division 1 The 2000–01 Ligue 1 season (then called Division 1) was the 63rd since its establishment. FC Nantes won the French Association Football League for the eighth time with 68 points. Participating teams * Auxerre * Bastia * Bordeaux * Guingamp ...

, but the team's form quickly dropped. In December 2000, following a 5–1 loss to Sedan, Philippe Bergeroo was replaced as PSG manager by

Luis Fernández Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo (born 2 October 1959), known as Luis Fernandez, is a French football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Fernandez spent most of his playing career for Paris Saint-Germain. He earned ...

. PSG finished ninth in Ligue 1 that season, earning a place in next season's UEFA Intertoto Cup. PSG finished second in the first round of group stage, behind Bayern Munich, but finished bottom of the second group stage, behind

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. However, once again, Anelka developed issues with his head coach, Luis Fernández (who was already under pressure for benching

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional association football, footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deplo ...

due to his work ethic).

Liverpool (loan)

After two-and-a-half years, Anelka returned to the Premier League in December 2001 to join

on a short-term loan deal until the end of the season. He contributed to Liverpool's late push to come second in the

2001–02 FA Premier League The 2001–02 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the ...

, scoring goals against Everton, Fulham,

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, and in the

2001–02 FA Cup The 2001–02 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by AXA for sponsorship reasons) was the 121st season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal with a 2–0 win against Chelsea, courtes ...

against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

, but manager

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...

opted not to offer him a permanent deal after the end of the season in favour of signing Senegalese forward El Hadji Diouf.

Manchester City

Anelka joined Manchester City on 24 May 2002, with the £13 million transfer fee paid by manager Kevin Keegan, then a club record high. In his first season at City, Anelka was the club's top scorer with 14 goals, including a goal in the last ever

Manchester Derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough of ...

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

against Manchester United, against former club Arsenal and a last minute winner at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

after scoring a penalty just moments earlier. In his second season at City, he finished top scorer again, in the club's first season at the City of Manchester Stadium, with 25 goals. On 16 October 2004, he won and scored a penalty against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, which led to José Mourinho's first defeat as Chelsea manager.

Fenerbahçe

In January 2005, Manchester City announced Anelka had completed a £7 million transfer to Turkish team Fenerbahçe. He helped the Turkish club win the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

title in 2005, and played with them in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

that season, as well as the

the season after.

Bolton Wanderers

On 25 August 2006, Bolton Wanderers signed Anelka on a four-year deal for a club record transfer fee of £8 million. He made his debut for Bolton against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on 9 September 2006. He opened his account on 19 September in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, scoring the last goal of a 3–1 away win. After 11 matches without a goal in the

, he scored his first goals – a brace – on 25 November to help down Arsenal 3–1. He finished the 2006–07 Premier League season as Bolton's top scorer with eleven goals. In January 2007, Anelka stated he would be willing to leave Bolton for a return to former club Arsenal. However, he pledged his future to Bolton in July 2007 following talks with manager Sammy Lee. Anelka later said he would reluctantly consider leaving the club if Bolton's poor start to the 2007–08 season continued, but later signed a new four-year contract lasting until 2011 on 30 August. In June 2020 Anelka admitted he signed the contract so that Bolton could get a bigger transfer fee when he left.

Chelsea

On 11 January 2008, it was confirmed Anelka would join Chelsea for £15 million. He made his Chelsea debut against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

on 12 January 2008, and scored his first goal two weeks later in the

against Wigan Athletic. He scored his first league goal on 2 February against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, but failed to score again for Chelsea during the 2007–08 season. Anelka Chelsea

In the 2008 Champions League final, Anelka delivered Chelsea's seventh penalty which was saved by

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

, resulting in Manchester United winning the competition. Anelka later blamed manager

Avram Grant Avraham "Avram" Grant ( he, אברהם "אברם" גרנט; born Avraham Granat; ) is an Israeli professional football manager. He has spent the majority of his career coaching and managing in Israel, winning a number of national league and cup ...

for his penalty miss, claiming Grant brought him on to play as a late substitute without a proper warm up beforehand and also too late in the game to acclimatize himself in it. On 3 August 2008, Anelka scored four goals in a 5–0 friendly win against Milan. With Didier Drogba injured at the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Anelka made a very impressive start to the campaign. His goalscoring spree won him the Golden Boot Award on 14 November 2008 for being the first player that season to score ten Premier League goals. Anelka scored his first competitive hat-trick for Chelsea against Sunderland, in a 5–0 home win on 1 November 2008, and followed this up with two braces against Blackburn Rovers, then

. He established himself as an important member of the squad and maintained his place in the team despite the return to fitness of Drogba. After the arrival of Guus Hiddink, Anelka was more often played on the wing. Furthermore, he was ranked among the top goalscorers in the league for the season. He scored another hat-trick against Watford in the

to earn Chelsea a 3–1 victory at

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...

. On 10 May, he scored one goal and set up another in a 4–1 away win against former club Arsenal. Anelka did not celebrate the goal which he scored in the game, as he disclosed "he still loved Arsenal". A goal in Chelsea's final Premier League game of the season at Sunderland put him as top goal scorer for the season in the Premier League, earning him the Golden Boot with 19 goals. Nicolas Anelka 1

Anelka scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season against West London rivals Fulham in a 2–0 win at Craven Cottage, before continuing his fine form with the opening goal in Chelsea's 3–0 win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

the following weekend. He scored his third goal of the season in the opening match of the 2009–10 Champions League

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

in the 1–0 victory over

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. Anelka scored one of the best goals of his season against APOEL in the Champions League with the ball being passed into the net from outside the box. Anelka scored his third league goal of the season against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in a 2–0 win with the second goal coming from compatriot

Florent Malouda Florent Johan Malouda (born 13 June 1980) is a French football coach and former professional player. A left winger, he spent most of his career at Lyon and Chelsea, winning four consecutive Ligue 1 titles with the former and the UEFA Champion ...

. Anelka continued his fine scoring run in the Champions League with the winner in the 1–0 victory over Porto at the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; English: Dragon Stadium) is an All-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the Lis ...

, making Chelsea only the second ever English side to win at Porto's home ground. He continued his scoring in the season by scoring Chelsea's first goal in a 3–3 draw against Everton in the Premier League, his first goal in the competition since October. He followed that up with another goal in Chelsea's 2–1 victory over Portsmouth. On 16 January 2010, on his return from injury, Anelka scored twice in an astonishing 7–2 victory over Sunderland. He continued this fine form into the next match scoring in an FA Cup tie against Preston North End, bringing his tally in the previous four matches to five goals. After the return of Didier Drogba from the African Cup of Nations, Anelka had been playing on the wing to support him. Anelka scored his first goal since January in a 1–0 win over his former club Bolton in April 2010, putting Chelsea four points ahead of second-place Manchester United. On the final day of the season, Anelka scored two goals against Wigan Athletic, including the first Chelsea goal in the sixth minute, to help Chelsea win their third Premier League title and their first in four years. Anelka (along with Ashley Cole) joined

Henning Berg Henning Stille Berg (; born 1 September 1969) is a Norwegian football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Cypriot First Division club Pafos FC. His career lasted from 1988 to 2004, most notably in the Premier League where h ...

in the exclusive band of players who have won the Premier League title with two different clubs. On 24 June 2010, Chelsea announced Anelka had signed a new one-year extension to his existing contract that will keep him at the club until 2012. Anelka started the 2010–11 campaign in fine form for Chelsea. He assisted Florent Malouda's last goal against West Brom on the opening day of the Premier League season, scored a double in the next game against Wigan Athletic, then won a penalty against Stoke City in Chelsea's third game of the season. He continued this fine form in Chelsea's first Champions League match, scoring a first half brace against

MŠK Žilina MŠK Žilina () is a Slovak football club based in the town of Žilina, that is playing in the Slovak Superliga. Since the league inception in 1993, the club has won 7 titles and comes second in All-time table that makes them one of the most ...

. Further goals against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

and

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

ensured this was the first season since playing for Paris Saint-Germain he had scored at least four goals in a Champions League season. On 19 October, during Chelsea's Champions League

match against Spartak, Anelka continued his impressive goal scoring form in the Champions League, scoring the second goal of the match and his 50th goal for Chelsea in the 43rd minute of the game. He ended the 2010–11 season with 16 goals from 45 appearances in all competitions. Anelka scored Chelsea's first goal of the 2011–12 season against West Brom in a 2–1

victory. This would prove to be Anelka's final goal for Chelsea, however, as he failed to find the net in 14 further appearances in 2011. On 3 December 2011, after Chelsea's 3–0 victory against Newcastle United, manager

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...

confirmed to the media that Anelka, along with centre-back Alex, had submitted transfer requests to the club and would be free to leave Chelsea in January. On 12 December, Chelsea confirmed Anelka would join Chinese club

. Zhu Jun, owner of Shanghai Shenhua, confirmed his club had sealed a deal with Anelka in his Weibo on 12 December 2011. This deal was later officially announced by both clubs and was finalized the same day. In total, Anelka scored 59 goals for Chelsea in 184 appearances.

Shanghai Shenhua

On 1 January 2012, Anelka moved to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, with his annual salary reported to be around €12 million. Following his move, Anelka revealed he turned down the chance to join his former club PSG the previous month in favour of signing for Shanghai Shenhua, and explained that his move was because he did not have attractive offers to remain within Europe. On 21 February 2012, he scored his debut goal in a pre-season friendly match against

Hunan Billows Hunan Billows Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the China League Two division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changsha, Hunan and their home stadium is t ...

, just 40 seconds after the start of the match. Anelka failed to make his

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

(CSL) debut due to ankle injury on the opening league match of the season against Jiangsu Sainty. He eventually made his CSL debut and scored his first CSL goal on 16 March 2012, in a 3–2 away defeat against bitter rivals

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their hom ...

. On 11 April 2012, Anelka was named as part of the coaching staff to help struggling manager

Jean Tigana Amadou Jean Tigana (born 23 June 1955) is a French former footballer and coach. He has played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and one goal for the France national football team ...

. On 19 June 2012, it was confirmed that Anelka's former Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba would join Shanghai Shenhua. On 7 June 2012, it was claimed Anelka was keen on a move back to the Premier League after he was involved in a heated exchange with a fan for refusing to bow in front of the travelling Shenhua fans with his teammates. Anelka provided two assists for Drogba and headed in a late equaliser to earn Shenhua a point in a 3–3 draw with

Shandong Luneng Taishan Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is ...

on 25 August.

Juventus (loan)

On 26 January 2013, Anelka joined Italian side Juventus on a five-month loan deal. He made his debut for Juventus against Celtic in the Champions League. Anelka made two further appearances for Juventus, both in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

, as the club won the league title.

West Bromwich Albion

On 4 July 2013, Anelka joined West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer after being released by Shanghai Shenhua, marking another return to the Premier League, the sixth Premier League club he has played for in his career. He said he would like to end his career in England, at West Brom. On 22 August 2013, Anelka reportedly walked out of a training session telling staff he was leaving the club to retire. The reports were quickly denied by the club, which confirmed Anelka would miss one match and that he had left the session early on compassionate grounds following the death of his agent. On 28 August 2013, it was announced that since completing his week of compassionate leave, Anelka had decided to remain with the club and would begin training the following day in preparation for West Brom's forthcoming match against Swansea City. He subsequently returned full-time to the team. Anelka scored his first goal for the club in a 3–3 draw with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 28 December 2013, scoring a first-half brace in his first appearance in over two months. During his

goal celebration In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst r ...

he performed a '' quenelle'', a hand gesture popularized by his comedian friend Dieudonné, described by some critics as an inverted Nazi salute.

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

(FA) and anti-racism organisations investigated the incident following allegations of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. On 27 February 2014, an FA disciplinary hearing banned Anelka for five matches, fined him £80,000 and ordered him to complete an educational course. In the hearing, the FA disciplinary hearing panel concluded, " did not find that Nicolas Anelka is an anti-Semite or that he intended to express or promote anti-Semitism by his use of the ''quenelle''." Anelka and the FA both decided not to appeal this verdict. In the 2020 documentary ''Anelka: Misunderstood'', Anelka said that the ''quenelle'' was only a protest at former West Brom manager

, who is not Jewish. Anelka used social media to announce he was terminating his contract with West Brom. West Brom responded that Anelka had given the club no official notification of his intention to leave, and later gave him 14 days notice of termination from the club for gross misconduct.

Mumbai City FC

On 15 September 2014, Anelka joined

Mumbai City Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

of the newly formed

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

. Following a three-match global ban, he made his debut on 28 October 2014 in a 5–1 defeat at

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...

. Five days later, in his first home match at the DY Patil Stadium, Anelka scored the match's only goal to defeat

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

. On 5 November, he scored his only other goal of the season, for a home game of the same outcome against the Delhi Dynamos. Anelka played a total of seven matches for Mumbai, as they finished seventh and did not qualify for the end-of-season play-offs. In January 2015, Anelka had agreed a deal to join Algerian side

NA Hussein Dey Nasr Athlétique de Hussein Dey ( ar, نصر حسين داي), known as NA Hussein Dey or NAHD for short, is an Algerian football club based in Hussein Dey, Algiers. The club was founded in 1947 and its colours are red and yellow. Their home ...

on an 18-month contract. However, the move was blocked by the Algerian Football Federation as, "Only those aged under 27 and playing on the international level for their countries are allowed to sign up with our clubs." Anelka subsequently returned to Mumbai and was named the team's player-manager on 3 July 2015.

International career

At youth level, Anelka played for the French under-20 team at the 1997 World Youth Championship, and made his senior team debut for

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 Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

on his first international start and scoring both goals in a comfortable 2–0 win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in February 1999. Anelka made his first appearance in a major tournament at

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, 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 South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

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 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

squad as

Djibril Cissé Djibril Cissé (; born 12 August 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He started his career at AC Arles in 1989, at the age of eight. After seven years at the club, he had a six-month spell at Nîmes Oly ...

was suspended. In November 2005, now under,

, Anelka returned to the France squad for a friendly against Costa Rica in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

. 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 The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

due to injury,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

striker

Sidney Govou Sidney Rodrigue Noukpo Govou (born 27 July 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played primarily as a winger, but was occasionally deployed as a striker. He holds the record for most Ligue 1 titles won (seven), along with Her ...

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

: "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 Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

on 2 June 2007. Anelka featured in the France squad for

in Austria and Switzerland. Anelka started France's first group game against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, but was substituted after 72 minutes. He did not start either of France's remaining two games in the tournament against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, 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 Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. 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 Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Following criticism of his positioning by Domenech, Anelka is reported to have said, "," 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.

Retirement

After retiring as a player, Anelka joined the technical staff of Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

in February 2017, claiming he wanted to help his friend and the club's shareholder Aleksey Korotaev. In November 2018, he joined

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

as a youth forwards coach. On 3 February 2021 he became the sports director of

Hyères FC Hyères Football Club is a football in France, French association football List of football clubs in France, team playing in the city of Hyères, Var. The club was founded in 1912 and played the first ever season of professional football in Fran ...

, under the new ownership of

Mourad Boudjellal Mourad Boudjellal (born 5 June 1960) is a French businessman, founder of Soleil Productions comic publishing and sport manager. He was born on 5 June 1960 in Ollioules, near Toulon, on the French Riviera. Presidency of Toulonnais In 2006, Bou ...

. He departed three months later, on 4 May 2021, with no first team game taking place during his tenure due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Anelka goal.''

Honours

Arsenal *

: 1997–98 *

: 1997–98 * FA Charity Shield:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Real Madrid *

: 1999–2000 Paris Saint-Germain * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001 Fenerbahçe *

: 2004–05 Chelsea *Premier League: 2009–10 *FA Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10 * FA Community Shield: 2009 * Football League Cup runner-up: 2007–08 *UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2007–08 Juventus *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

France U18 *

UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

France *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

* FIFA Confederations Cup: 2001 Individual * Division 1 Rookie of the Year: 1998 *

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

: February 1999, November 2008 *

: 1998–99 * PFA Team of the Year: 1998–99 Premier League,

2008–09 Premier League The 2008–09 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th season since the establishment of the Premier League in 1992. Manchester United became champions for the 11th time on the penultimate wee ...

: 2008–09

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anelka, Nicolas 1979 births Living people French people of Martiniquais descent People from Le Chesnay People from Trappes Converts to Islam French Muslims Black French sportspeople Footballers from Yvelines French footballers Association football forwards INF Clairefontaine players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Real Madrid CF players Liverpool F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Juventus F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Mumbai City FC players Ligue 1 players Premier League players La Liga players Süper Lig players Serie A players Chinese Super League players Indian Super League players Indian Super League marquee players First Division/Premier League top scorers UEFA Champions League winning players France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers France international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players 2010 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in China French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in India French football managers Lille OSC non-playing staff Mumbai City FC head coaches Indian Super League head coaches French expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in India Association football coaches Mumbai City FC managers FA Cup Final players