Nicolas Anelka lands unlikely top job after spending three years out of football
Former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka has taken a new job, joining Turkish side Umraniyespor as CEO.
The 44-year-old, who also spent time with the likes of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain during a long career, has tried managerial and administrative roles since hanging up his boots. Those posts have been in a variety of countries, from his native France to Algeria, China, India and the Netherlands.
Anelka's most recent post, with French lower-league side Hyeres, lasted just three months. He responded by taking nearly three years out of the game before moving to Turkey.
His new team are regrouping after relegation, currently sitting 10th in the Turkish second tier. The club shared the message "Welcome Professor" while announcing the Frenchman, before sharing some highlights from his career.
Anelka spent 18 months in the Turkish Super Lig with Fenerbahce, joining from Manchester City and later leaving for Bolton Wanderers. He scored 16 times in his season and a half with the club, helping them finish first and then second.
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His team weren't able to get out of their Champions League group in the 2005-06 season, but he would go on to reach the final of the competition with Chelsea two years later. There, he missed the decisive penalty as the Blues lost in a shoot-out against fellow Premier League side Manchester United.
He had left the Blues before they eventually won the competition in 2012, and ended his career in India with Mumbai City. He had already been given a taste of management before then, thanks to a player-coach role with Shanghai Shenhua, and did the same towards the end of his time in India.
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Anelka remains one of the players legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger most regrets letting leave. The Gunners picked him up for a knockdown fee from PSG as a teenager, selling him on to Real Madrid after he was formerly part of the 1997-98 Double-winning team.
"My biggest regret and shame is that Anelka left," Wenger said at a charity event in 2021. "He could have been special, instead he played for 13 clubs."
While Anelka turned out for several clubs in England, none of his post-playing roles have been with Premier League sides. He went from Shanghai Shenhua to Algerian side NA Hussein Dey before his stint with Mumbai City, before serving as an advisor with Dutch club Roda.
He then returned home to France, serving as a coach in Lille's youth set-up, before opting to drop down the pyramid and join Hyeres. That spell didn't last too long, but there's a chance for him to change that with Umraniyespor.
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