1/7/2025–|Last update: 18:48 (Mecca time)
In the history of English football, Nicholas Anilka has emerged as one of the most talented and effective attackers. The French star presented an exceptional career with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Polton and Chelsea clubs, scoring goals and achievements.
But the irony is that his name is always associated with the waves and lack of smile, until his famous title “Le Solik” – meaning “the frown” – became part of his legacy alongside his goals and decisive passes.
A shine start in London
Anilka joined Arsenal from Paris Saint -Germain, a young man who is 17 years old in 1997, and soon the English Premier League charm in front of the goal and his innate speed.
Anilka was crowned with the team the league and Al -Ittihad Cup, and won the award for the best young player in the Premier League, before leaving for Real Madrid in a record deal at the time of $ 30.6 million, and he has not yet completed 20 years.
Despite the negative image that followed it, Anilka has achieved what many are unable to reach; It ranks 14th in the list of historical goalscorers for the English Premier League, achieved the league and cup double with Arsenal and Chelsea, crowned league titles in France, Spain and Turkey, played 69 international matches with France, and crowned the European Nations Cup and the Champions League.
Even in Chelsea, who joined him and many thought that at the end of his path, Anilka showed a tremendous value, scored the goals and scored the golden shoe in the 2008-2009 season, and remained an important element until the age of 32.
The frown that covered the smiles
Bid that the image of Anilka in the minds was not drawn with his goals and titles, but with his staggered features since his last season with Arsenal, who witnessed the loss of the relationship with the fans, and the French seemed to be trapped feelings that the world does not want to see.
Some accused him of failure and apathy, describing him as mood and suffocating for the atmosphere of the dressing room. As for him, he saw the issue clearly: “When Owen went to Real Madrid, or Beckham, it was normal. As for me, it was as if I killed anyone.”
This reputation of Anilka is fueled by a controversial professional decisions from his brothers who managed his work, so he was frequent among clubs until he became “Bedouin” spherical, a description that often carries negative indications of the absence of stability.
However, he was never involved in serious behavioral problems, but his colleagues saw him as calm, shy, and perhaps alone.
Anilka remained to the end a distinguished player, collecting medals, memories and numbers that put him in the ranks of the elite of the European attackers.
But he was also a captive of perceptions that he stuck to him since he was a young man in Arsenal, which is not reflected except by his sincere confession: “This is the perception of the people who do not know me.”
Perhaps this was the greatest analka legacy. A stunning player, shadow of the shadow of the rulings, his biggest dream was not to record or crown, but rather to be understood and made friends on the road.