Players Under The Microscope / Mike Norman / 14 January 2008 /

As Nicolas Anelka pledges his future to his ninth club in ten years, Mike Norman analyses how he has performed for each of them and tries to work out whether they got value for their money.

Last Friday, Nicolas Anelka joined Chelsea Football Club in a deal reported to be around £15m, making him the most expensive player in football history, having been transferred for cumulative fees totalling approximately £86.5m. At the age of just 28, Anelka is now at his eighth club (nine if you count PSG twice) in a career spanning a little over ten years.

Anelka has stated that he would like to end his career at Chelsea, and as I believe his 'Le Sulk' days are well behind him, I have no reason to doubt his loyalty to the Blues. He will almost definitely play alongside Drogba in a 4-4-2 formation, which can easily be switched to 4-3-3 with the introduction of Kalou. Chelsea are now just [6.8] to regain their Premiership crown, while in the Champions League they can be backed at [9.4].

In the 'Premiership Top Goalcorer' market, Anelka was matched at a low of [6.2] on the back of his move to Stamford Bridge, but after the brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-track on Saturday evening, Anelka was back out to [10]. Was there an initial overreaction to the Frenchman joining Chelsea, or can his current odds be perceived as value? Well in horse racing, the greatest tool a punter can have is the form book and, just sometimes, in football it can be equally informative.

Arsenal:

Cost £500k, 90 appearances, 28 goals, £17,857 per goal, 3.21 games per goal.

Having played just 11 times and scoring only once for Paris Saint-Germain, the shrewd Arsene Wenger had seen enough to spend half a million pound on a very young, but highly promising Anelka. That deal, and Anelka's subsequent transfer to Real Madrid for £22.3m, remains the best bit of business I've ever seen in football. However, it has to be said that although young Anelka showed flashes of brilliance and immense promise, his games per goal ratio was not that impressive for a striker at a top club, requiring on average, a little over three games to find the net.

Real Madrid:

Cost £22.3m, 39 appearances, 8 goals, £2.79m per goal, 4.88 games per goal.

Anelka's time in Spain can only be described as disappointing. He got plenty of opportunities in the first team but only scored 8 times, equating to a ratio of 1 goal nearly every 5 games. Rumour has it that he was disliked amongst his team mates because of his cocky arrogance, and he was eventually sold to his first club Paris Saint-Germain.

Paris SG:

Cost £20m, 56 appearances, 18 goals, £1.1m per goal, 3.11 games per goal.

Anelka began to show signs of maturing at the club he also played for in his youth, and with it came the improvement in his games per goal ratio, though 18 goals in 56 appearances was probably not the return PSG were looking for when they invested £20m.

Liverpool:

Cost £0 (loan), 22 appearances, 5 goals, £0 per goal, 4.4 games per goal.

A brief loan spell at Liverpool brought Anelka back into the eyes of Premiership bosses, but Gerard Houllier decided against making the move permanent.

Man City:

Cost £12m, 103 appearances, 46 goals, £261k per goal, 2.24 games per goal.

It was Kevin Keegan that got the best out of Anelka as the Frenchman began to fulfill the promise he showed at Arsenal. On average he scored a goal almost every two games in a team that was hardly successful. It was becoming apparent that the Premiership suited Anelka's style of play much more than on the continent.

Fenerbache:

Cost £7m, 57 appearances, 16 goals, £437k cost per goal, 3.56 games per goal.

In terms of goals, Anelka's time at Fenerbache was another backward step for a player of his ability. Just 16 goals in 57 appearances looked like halting the progress he had made at City, but thankfully, a move back to the Premiership was in the offering.

Bolton:

Cost £8m, 61appearances, 23 goals, £348k per goal, 2.65 games per goal.

Anelka's performances for Bolton are best summed up by this season alone. H has scored 11 times in 23 appearances for a team struggling at the bottom of the Premiership. His finishing looks to be out of the top drawer, and a move to Chelsea, a team that will create plenty of chances for him, could see this excellent striker becoming a prolific one.

In total, Nicolas Anelka has played 276 times for English clubs, scoring 102 goals, meaning he scores a goal on average every 2.7 games. On that basis, if Anelka was to play every remaining Premiership game for Chelsea, he would score another 6 goals, giving him 16 in total for the Premiership. That will not make him the Premiership's top scorer - in fact, as Ronaldo [2.22] already has 16 goals, Anelka would need to up his ratio to a goal every 1.2 games at least - possible, but unlikely.

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