Anelka to Chelski

[Mr. Snrub]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article598877.ece

 

AVRAM GRANT has claimed victory over Manchester United in the race to sign Nicolas Anelka.

 

Chelsea boss Grant is convinced a £10million January deal for the Bolton hitman is in the bag.

 

Moody French striker Anelka has a verbal agreement with Bolton that he can join a top-four club in next month’s transfer window.

 

And he is expected to be unveiled as Chelsea’s latest acquisition early in the New Year. Chelsea have been locked in a battle for Anelka’s signature with United’s Alex Ferguson and Manchester City for six months.

 

Grant is a long-time admirer of Anelka, 28, and tried to lure him to Portsmouth when he was their director of football.

[Guest teepee]

it'll be 6 months before he turns into the big sulk again then - wont get ahead of drogba and will have to settle for quite a few matches on the bench.

[Dave]

He's claimed that without saying anything?

[Karjala]

How likely is this to actually happen? Is it almost certain he'll go/stay, or 50/50?

 

These rumours about Anelka come around every window, and as soon as I saw the source, knew there was no point in reading it.

[sicsfingeredmong]

Bolton selling one of the two creative spearheads, the other being Diouf, that play major roles in their bid to avoid the chop/relegation. If they're to sell any of them it will be for a sum that will partially offset the financial damage to the club in the event of them going down, something which imo will be the ultimate price payed by Bolton if either Diouf or Anelka are sold in January.

 

'Just 10m' seems under the odds given the circumstances.......... tabloid bullshite imo.

[Dragon55544]

Bolton selling one of the two creative spearheads, the other being Diouf, that play major roles in their bid to avoid the chop/relegation. If they're to sell any of them it will be for a sum that will partially offset the financial damage to the club in the event of them going down, something which imo will be the ultimate price payed by Bolton if either Diouf or Anelka are sold in January.

 

'Just 10m' seems under the odds given the circumstances.......... tabloid bullshite imo.

 

Id love to see us get Diouf and Anelka, They would transform our side. I hate Diouf but you cant doubt his ability.

[TRon]

I see this as very likely to happen unfortunately. Drogba is unsettled at Chelsea and Anelka would be a great replacement.

 

 

[nufcjmc]

I see this as very likely to happen unfortunately. Drogba is unsettled at Chelsea and Anelka would be a great replacement.

 

 

 

not forgetting that it is very likely shev will move on either in jan or the summer.

[Guest alex]

We missed the boat a while ago, sadly.

[ChezGiven]

Shite

[GM]

Shite

 

Most probably

[tmonkey]

it'll be 6 months before he turns into the big sulk again then - wont get ahead of drogba and will have to settle for quite a few matches on the bench.

 

Arsenal will do ok without him, they still have Bergkamp, Vieira, Overmars, etc, so Le Sulk forcing a move to their london rivals wont make much of a difference to them.

[Thespence]

Id love to see us get Diouf and Anelka, They would transform our side. I hate Diouf but you cant doubt his ability.

 

If we got those two, who know Sam & the 433 system, people can kiss goodbye to seeing: Oba, Milner & 442 on a regular basis.

[tmonkey]

Diouf is shit and overrated. Cant stand that type of player, a player with average ability but manages to cover that by the use of intelligence to create situations where he can dive and win a free kick. Similar to Cahill, Ashley Cole and Ljungberg.

[Guest alex]

Diouf is shit and overrated. Cant stand that type of player, a player with average ability but manages to cover that by the use of intelligence to create situations where he can dive and win a free kick. Similar to Cahill, Ashley Cole and Ljungberg.

The four you mention all are / have been very good players to a greater or lesser degree.

[Ronaldo]

I see this as very likely to happen unfortunately. Drogba is unsettled at Chelsea and Anelka would be a great replacement.

 

 

 

not forgetting that it is very likely shev will move on either in jan or the summer.

 

and that Anelka isn't fit to suck Drogba's wang

[Parky]

We missed the boat a while ago, sadly.

 

>

[Guest Dev]

Diouf is s*** and overrated. Cant stand that type of player, a player with average ability but manages to cover that by the use of intelligence to create situations where he can dive and win a free kick. Similar to Cahill, Ashley Cole and Ljungberg.

 

Umm, Cahill would romp into our starting lineup no questions asked. A few years ago freddy would have as well.

[Guest ObaStar]

wont drogba and kalou hvae to bugger off for the african nations cup so chelsea will need a new striker and anelka isnt gonna stay at bolton, not in the position that they are in. I would not be surprised if this is true. Personally I would not want anelka, he had a good year last year but you see players all the time have one off good years (berbatov last year much better than this year, bent, benni mcarthy etc.)

[Karjala]

I always been a pesimistic about Anelka since his Real days, but this season he has totally impressed me, and realised what a great player he is. I just wonder if part of it is to engineer a move away. Bolton would/will seriously miss him.

 

As for us missing the boat, totally agree. I was in the camp that didnt really want Anelka, now I'd love him here, better than any of our strikers. BUT, would he still want to leave us for Chelsea anyway?

 

Grant has repeatedly said he's happy to go with Shev and Pizarro during the ACN, which arent bad options to be fair, then Drogba and Kolou come back for the last 1/4 of the season. If this moves goes ahead i think its gotta be somewhere in the region of £15m. Interesting there hasnt been much denial from Bolton.

[tmonkey]

As for us missing the boat, totally agree. I was in the camp that didnt really want Anelka, now I'd love him here, better than any of our strikers. BUT, would he still want to leave us for Chelsea anyway?

 

Would you turn down Kaka if there was the possibility of him leaving a year later to a bigger club?

 

Bit of an extreme analogy, but the point still stands. Anelka is a top class player, hes far more suited to the style and system that Big Sam wants to play (and is playing), and hes a better player than Martins, Owen or Viduka. Having him here for one season, and then making a profit at the end of it, is better than not having him here and having to sign someone average just because theyll not have the ambition (and no doubt the ability) to play at the highest levels in club football.

 

And even then, its only a possibility that hed leave. I think we're the type of club that Anelka would love to be at - billionaire chairman, large fanbase and stadium, recent European regulars, a manager who Anelka respects, etc. Hes shown quite a lot of commitment for a mercenary at his last two Premiership clubs, Man City and Bolton, back when Man City were lower mid table with no money, whilst Bolton are Bolton, small club with small resources and the true ambition of being mid table (ie ignoring peaks and troughs). Without meaning to sound arrogant, I think we're a pretty big step up from the clubs that Anelka has been at recently (and again, was/is comfortable with), and if we could land him, Id be pretty certain that he wouldnt be leaving unless we wanted him to.

 

Also, look at it from this point of view. How many good signings away are we from being serious top 5 contenders? I would say two quality (not world class, just consistently good) players would do it. Not too dissimilar to Robert and Bellamy changing Sir Bobby's mid table side to title pretenders. IF we can land Anelka, do it, and try to get at least another similar calibre player in another position that we need a first teamer, and we could easily jump from mid table to top 5/6. From that perspective, can you still see players like Anelka wanting to leave when we'd be only just behind CL clubs? I honestly doubt it. This would be called ambition - not wanting to sign Anelka for fear of him leaving would be a clear lack of it imo.

[nufcjmc]

You just have to speak to Crespo, SWP last season, shev, wayne bridge to see that a massive club like chelsea is like any massive club unless your world best undropable class then the likes of chelsea will continue to stick you on the bench when they see fit. Anelka has a good thing going at Bolton they are improving and where he is at now he is a starter no matter what and by far their best player some players do like being put on a pedastal

[Thespence]

Bit of an extreme analogy, but the point still stands. Anelka is a top class player, hes far more suited to the style and system that Big Sam wants to play (and is playing), and hes a better player than Martins, Owen or Viduka. Having him here for one season, and then making a profit at the end of it, is better than not having him here and having to sign someone average just because theyll not have the ambition (and no doubt the ability) to play at the highest levels in club football.

 

You have Anelka signing for us , doing well & then us selling him for a profit. Talk about jumping the gun

[TRon]

As for us missing the boat, totally agree. I was in the camp that didnt really want Anelka, now I'd love him here, better than any of our strikers. BUT, would he still want to leave us for Chelsea anyway?

 

Would you turn down Kaka if there was the possibility of him leaving a year later to a bigger club?

 

Bit of an extreme analogy, but the point still stands. Anelka is a top class player, hes far more suited to the style and system that Big Sam wants to play (and is playing), and hes a better player than Martins, Owen or Viduka. Having him here for one season, and then making a profit at the end of it, is better than not having him here and having to sign someone average just because theyll not have the ambition (and no doubt the ability) to play at the highest levels in club football.

 

And even then, its only a possibility that hed leave. I think we're the type of club that Anelka would love to be at - billionaire chairman, large fanbase and stadium, recent European regulars, a manager who Anelka respects, etc. Hes shown quite a lot of commitment for a mercenary at his last two Premiership clubs, Man City and Bolton, back when Man City were lower mid table with no money, whilst Bolton are Bolton, small club with small resources and the true ambition of being mid table (ie ignoring peaks and troughs). Without meaning to sound arrogant, I think we're a pretty big step up from the clubs that Anelka has been at recently (and again, was/is comfortable with), and if we could land him, Id be pretty certain that he wouldnt be leaving unless we wanted him to.

 

Also, look at it from this point of view. How many good signings away are we from being serious top 5 contenders? I would say two quality (not world class, just consistently good) players would do it. Not too dissimilar to Robert and Bellamy changing Sir Bobby's mid table side to title pretenders. IF we can land Anelka, do it, and try to get at least another similar calibre player in another position that we need a first teamer, and we could easily jump from mid table to top 5/6. From that perspective, can you still see players like Anelka wanting to leave when we'd be only just behind CL clubs? I honestly doubt it. This would be called ambition - not wanting to sign Anelka for fear of him leaving would be a clear lack of it imo.

 

Everything you say is 100% right, especially wrt Anelka being ideal for Allardyce's 4-3-3 BUT, I do think we have moved too late. There are going to be more attractive prospects than us for Anelka, though I would love to be proved wrong. The lure of the capital might swing  it as well.

 

 

[Skirge]

I do not think it will happen, he knows his arse will be dropped for Drogba as soon as he is back, Anelka wants a promise of a permanent deal unless Sheva is sold then I cannot see them offering Anelka what he wants.