Chelsea clinch £15m Anelka deal
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Chelsea will complete a £15m deal to sign Bolton's French striker Nicolas Anelka on Friday.
BBC Sport understands that only formalities remain and the 28-year-old should sign in time to figure in Saturday's game against Spurs.
He will sign a four-and-a-half year deal at Stamford Bridge and could go straight into the side with Didier Drogba on international duty.
Bolton had earlier rejected a £12m offer from Chelsea for Anelka. -
3m more for greedy Bolton
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tats normal la..Originally posted by Y_Shun:3m more for greedy Bolton
as every1 knows RA is a carrot le
anyway gd buy for e Blues -
Already have Anelka in my fantasy team.Originally posted by a-Lost-9uY:tats normal la..
as every1 knows RA is a carrot le
anyway gd buy for e Blues -
And to think he was initially being tout around for $8, $9 million... But once chelsea's name came in... suddenly its 50% more...
Bolton have big Sam to thank for bringing him back from Fenerbahce... and making a tidy profit from this sale...
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i'd hate to see him score against man utd
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thats what happened when you're desperate.
if this was in the summer, confirm would be cheaper.
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at least this will minimise the impact of drogba's absence away at the ANC.
but when drogba and kalou return, then what?
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NICOLAS ANELKA jetted into London to sign for Chelsea and said: “This is the last club I will ever play for.”
The Blues have become the much-travelled AnelkaÂ’s eighth club but, at the age of 28, he feels ready to put down some roots.
As he agreed his £15million transfer from Bolton and a 3½-year deal, Anelka spoke to SunSport on his arrival at Stamford Bridge.
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He said: “This is the team I wanted to join and I never want to go anywhere else again. I’m delighted everything has been sorted out.
“My time at Bolton was great and I want to thank everyone connected with the club for what they did for me. But this was too good an opportunity to turn down.
“I want to play Champions League football, I want to win trophies — and Chelsea can give me that.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Avram Grant and following his style of football because it suits my game. I’ve been really impressed by what he and the team have done this season in what were very difficult circumstances.
“They have had great results and are still challenging for all the trophies.
“The quality of players here is fantastic and the competition for places excites me.”
Anelka has arrived at just the right time with top-scorer Didier Drogba in Ghana for the African Nations Cup.
The French international striker added: “I’ve played for big clubs before, I know what they are about and I know I can score goals at the top level of the game.
“I’ve proved that everywhere I’ve been. When you have played at places like Arsenal and Real Madrid you want more of it. This is a great opportunity and I’m ready to take it.”
Chelsea will be Anelka’s fifth English club and he has commanded more than £80m in transfer fees since leaving Arsenal for Real Madrid nine years ago in a £22m deal.
Yet, when Sam Allardyce signed Anelka for Bolton from Turkish outfit Fenerbahce 18 months ago for a club-record £8m, it was seen as a huge risk by Big Sam.
But Anelka knuckled down, never put a foot wrong and has now almost doubled the TrottersÂ’ money.
Michael Essien reckons his new team-mate will complete the Chelsea jigsaw.
The midfielder said: “He is one of the best strikers in the world. He has got everything to do the job.
“He will complete us as a side. We will be much stronger with him up front.”