Steve Clarke moved to solve his forward dilemma earlier this week by snapping up the much-travelled Nicolas Anelka on a one-year contract, with the option of a further season. The Frenchman arrives at the Hawthorns as a free agent, having plied his trade at Italian club Juventus for the final five months of the previous campaign.
The 34-year-old spent nine months with Clarke at Chelsea during the latter’s time as a coach at Stamford Bridge and admitted the Scot’s presence at the Hawthorns was key to his decision:
“I know the club and I know the head coach which was very important for me. He knows how to use me on the pitch which is important later on in your career. I know he likes to play football and that’s why I signed here. He knows me and I know him.”
The History
The Baggies will be Anelka’s sixth English club in a career that began back at Paris St Germain in the 1995/96 season. Snapped up by Arsenal in February 1997, he produced 23 goals in 65 first-team appearances before earning a big-money move to Real Madrid. His time at the Bernabeu was something of a let-down, however, with a mere two goals in 19 La Liga matches before he returned to PSG after just a year in Spain.
Anelka lasted a season-and-a-half in France second time around, returning 10 goals in 39 matches before Liverpool picked him up for the latter part of the 2001/02 season. After four goals in 20 games for the Reds, Anelka winged his way to Man City, where his time was a little more successful. Over two-and-a-half years at the Etihad, the Frenchman racked up 38 goals from 89 appearances before this time moving to Turkey to ply his trade for Fenerbahce – 14 goals in 39 games persuaded Bolton to shell out for his services for the 2006/07 season.
A year-and-a-half at the Reebok produced 23 goals and nine assists from 59 league games before Chelsea came calling in January 2008. Over three full campaigns and a couple of half seasons at Stamford Bridge Anelka registered 38 goals and 30 assists from 125 league matches before once again upping sticks, with a move to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua in January 2012. After producing three goals and six assists from 22 matches, he was farmed out on loan to Juventus in January earlier this year but made just two league appearances for the Serie A outfit and failed to find the net. On the international stage, Anelka has turned out on 69 occasions for the French senior side, scoring 14 times.
The Prospects
With last season’s top scorer Romelu Lukaku having returned to Chelsea after the end of a one-year loan spell, Clarke is in desperate need of extra firepower. The Belgian played a part in 21 of West Brom’s 53 goals over 2012/13, finding the net on 17 occasions in addition to supplying four assists – bearing in mind Shane Long notched just eight goals in 34 appearances, Peter Odemwingie is itching for a way out and Marc-Antoine Fortune has already been released on a free transfer, the Baggies are clearly lacking in frontline alternatives.
Certainly, Clarke seems to have plenty faith in the newly-acquired Frenchman. Speaking to the local press upon completion of the deal, the West Brom boss backed Anelka to make an impact upon his return to the English top-flight.
“We are missing a bit of firepower from last year – we’re trying to put that right – and to kick off with the signing of Nicolas at the start of the summer is a great boost for everyone at the club. He’s a player I have worked with before as I was at Chelsea when they signed him. He’s got a great work ethic, looks after himself and is a consummate professional. If you add that to the obvious talent he’s got, I think he can prove to be a really top signing for the club.”
Given the current shortage of forwards, Clarke’s shopping spree is likely to continue over the summer – the likes of Franco Di Santo, Salomon Kalou, Ola Toivonen and Matej Vydra have all been linked with a potential move to the Hawthorns over the last couple of days. As a result, it’s perhaps only when the transfer window comes to a close that we are likely to fully assess Anelka’s impact – given that Clarke rolled out a lone striker system in all but six of last term’s matches, though, the Frenchman may well find game time on the flank thanks to his versatility; a factor that would no doubt dent his appeal from a Fantasy perspective.
Expected to come in as a mid-price forward across the Fantasy games, a starting cost of around 6.5 looks the likeliest scenario in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for Anelka. While it’s somewhat unlikely he’ll be able to replicate Lukaku’s bustling displays, he has, nevertheless, produced double figure goal hauls in six Premier League seasons thus far and, if handed the lone forward role in Clarke’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, he may well offer us a relatively budget-friendly option for our three man frontlines over the short-term. With home games against Southampton, Swansea and Sunderland allied with a trip to Fulham in the opening five Gameweeks, the initial schedule smiles kindly on Clarke’s side as he looks to push on from last term’s eight place finish.
