Nicolas Anelka

First thing that should be said is that Anelka is a highly skilful striker. But that always seems to be followed by his being a character who is a law unto himself at times and has earned himself the nickname 'the Incredible Sulk'.

He burst onto the scene after being signed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger as a virtual unknown in February 1997, costing the Gunners just £500,000 from Paris St Germain. .

He starred in the Gunners 1997/8 double-winning campaign and was also in the goals during the following season.

He was very much outspoken in his final season at Highbury and eventually said he would not play for the club ever again after receiving overtures from the continent. That left Wenger with no choice but to sell him to Real Madrid for £23million in August 1999.

He failed to really shine at Real... before falling out with the club and returning to PSG in the summer of 2000.

But his stay at PSG was far from happy, and he eventually fell out with the club. The PSG board said their relationship with the player had completely collapsed.

It was Liverpool who pulled off something of a transfer coup on Christmas Eve 2001 when they took Anelka on loan for the remainder of the season after selling Robbie Fowler to Leeds United.

But the Reds denied the move represented any kind of risk.

It was thought that Liverpool would sign Anelka on a permanent basis, but in May 2002 Gerard Houllier announced that he did not want to keep the striker.

Manchester City boss Kevin Keegan then immediately made a move for the star, and at the beginning of June 2002 he sealed his signature in a £13million deal.

Anelka scored 14 Premiership goals in his first season at City, and he topped that with 17 in 2003/04 - and 25 in all competitions.

In the 2003/04 term rumours surfaced that the player had fallen out with manager Kevin Keegan. That was denied, but Anelka's body language on the pitch suggested differently.

In January 2005 Manchester City announced they had agreed to sell Anelka to Turkish team Fenerbahçe for £7million. He played a major role in ensuring they captured the Turkish title in 2005 before again becoming unsettled during the following season.

But it was Bolton Wanderers who eventually came in for the French star, and he signed a four year deal for a club record of £8m ahead of the 2006/07 season. . Anelka's goals propelled Bolton to the UEFA Cup yet he was soon on the move. January 2008 saw him move to Chelsea for £15m. It proved to be among his more disastrous moves, and he scored one goal for the Blues before missing the last penalty in the shoot-out with Manchester United in the Champions League Final. His attitude after that signalled that another move was surely on the cards to add to the £87m-worth he had already been involved in.