Bolton Wanderers nailed it with £8m transfer – He also bagged the club a healthy profit | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers struck gold with the signing of Nicolas Anelka from Fenerbahce before selling him for a big profit to Chelsea.

Back in the summer of 2006, Bolton Wanderers wanted something and someone that could propel them from competing for the UEFA Cup spots in the Premiership to genuine contenders for the top four and the UEFA Champions League.

The Trotters decided to break their club record fee to bring in then former Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Madrid striker Nicolas Anelka for a fee of £8 million from Turkish Super Lig giants Fenerbahce.

‘Le Sulk’ as he was and is nicknamed enjoyed some of the best times what was a stellar if controversial career whilst at the Reebok Stadium in Lancashire and is still spoken about in hushed tones by many Bolton supporters.

The Frenchman didn’t quite take Bolton to Europe’s elite club competition and by the time of his departure the decline from those glory days of the noughties had kicked in but it was still a wondrous spell at the club with many a memorable moment for Bolton supporters.

The magic of Anelka at Bolton

Having played for Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City as well as Arsenal, Liverpool, Madrid and Fenerbahce; Anelka was a well-known figure when he arrived at the Reebok at the age of 27 with a reputation for being somewhat difficult.

After a slow-ish start to his time with Wanderers whereby he didn’t score a goal in the league until a magnificent brace against Arsenal at the back end of November 2006, he didn’t look back.

He didn’t score in his first ten appearances for the club but then struck gold against his former side which began a run of then scoring 11 goals in 25 appearances, seven of which would come in eight games, beginning with that brace against the Gunners.

On New Year’s Day, after he had scored in a 3-2 win against Portsmouth at the Reebok to make it five wins in a row for the Whites, Bolton were third in the table.

With five games of the season to go the Whites headed to the Emirates Stadium sitting fifth in the table and knowing that a victory against Arsenal could well see them get into pole position for UEFA Champions League qualification. They took the lead via Anelka early on before falling to a 2-1 defeat and then collecting just two points from their final five games with Sam Allardyce leaving the club with two games to go.

The magical era at Bolton had faded but the individual magic of Anelka remained as he began the following season in electric form with four goals in his first five Premiership games as well as the winning goal against Rabotnicki in the qualifying stages of the UEFA Cup.

Upon return from an injury in late-November, the France international scored the only goal of the game as Wanderers defeated what many supporters believe to be arch-rivals Manchester United – a win that remains the last time they defeated the Red Devils.

Anelka scored ten in 13 top-flight games before Boxing Day and it was clear that, with Bolton involved in a relegation battle, they weren’t going to be able to keep him for much longer.

Anelka’s move to Chelsea

In the January transfer window of 2008, Chelsea purchased Anelka for £15 million from Bolton, netting the Trotters almost 100% profit on their original outlay for the Parisien striker.

Whilst at Chelsea, Anelka endured a tough time, scoring just one league goal before the end of the season but he became a crucial player for them in the following seasons as they won the Premier League, two FA Cups and the Community Shield.

He eventually did hit the ground running for the Blues with 19 goals in 37 appearances in the 2008/09 campaign as they were crowned champions of England under the management of Carlo Ancelotti.

He left Chelsea in January 2012 for Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua before returning to Europe a year later for a shirt loan stint at Juventus. He signed for West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2013 and scored two goals in 12 appearances for the Baggies before finishing his career with Mumbai City in the Indian Super League.

Anelka remains a cult hero at the Reebok and, to many, is the most talented striker the club have ever had despite many legends of the past. He didn’t quite deliver UEFA Champions League football to Bolton but he did provide supporters with many special memories.