Frenchman thanks Big Sam for the “best times of his career”

Chelsea forward Nicolas Anelka is quite the journeyman: the Frenchman has played for no less than five English clubs, and has also made time for two stints at Paris St-Germain, a season in Turkey and a Champions League-winning spell at Real Madrid.

Anelka has served under plenty of managers, but reserves the greatest amount of praise for Sam Allardyce. In the latest issue of ICON magazine, Nico explains why he was persuaded to join Bolton in 2006:

I met Sam Allardyce and I really liked him. He had a lot of confidence in me. I’d been told how things worked under him and when I met him I could see he was a good coach.

He’s tough, but at the same time, he’s funny. He was very honest. And he’s the best coach you could wish for when he’s happy with how the players are doing.

I had a tremendous year with him; it was one of the best times of my career. I have him to thank because he gave me the chance to return to England. I will never forget that it’s thanks to him that I joined Chelsea because he brought me back from Fenerbahce.

During the interview, Anelka also revealed that he does not consider himself to be a centre forward - he prefers to play behind the strikers and believes he played his best football at Liverpool, where he was allowed to play behind “natural goalscorer” Michael Owen, and Emile Heskey, who “sets a lot of things up for you”.

Spoiler bonus: Did you know Anelka has a fashion label? Check it out at 39Pro