Former Arsenal forward, Nicolas Anelka, has been appointed as coach for the young forwards at Lille.
According to a statement from the Ligue 1 side, Nicolas Anelka will, “intervene at the training centre of Lille and its young residents as an advisor, especially on the work and the specific position of attacker.”
Speaking to the press about the move, Lille’s manager Christophe Galtier, said, “Nicolas has a real desire to get started. He does not want the light and find himself at the pros. He will bring his expertise and knowledge of the position of striker among our young people, but he does not want to be exposed at the professional level.”
If Anelka is keen to stay away from the spotlight, then it is no surprise given a career that often saw him splashed over the back pages for all the wrong reasons.
Since leaving Arsenal for Real Madrid in 1999 for £31.5m, Anelka has struggled to find a place that feels like home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaCWytpW_Qs
He spent time with PSG, Liverpool, Manchester City, Fenerbahce, Bolton, Chelsea, SH Shenhua, Juventus, West Brom, and, finally, Mumbai City, before hanging up his boots at the start of 2016. It’s safe to say he never truly fulfilled the potential he showed at Arsenal, unable as he was to settle anywhere for any length of time.
In addition, his ‘quenelle’ gesture while he was playing for West Brom at the end of 2013 was widely criticised for being anti-Semitic and landed him an £80k fine and a five-match ban. A month later he was without a club and he never played in a top league again. Anelka made only 13 appearances after that ‘incident’ – all for Mumbai City.
In total, Anelka scored 205 goals with 38 assists 646 matches but the Frenchman, who arrived at Arsenal as a deadly teenager with pace to burn must wonder ‘what if’ he’d managed to find a club and just stay there…