Nicolas Anelka: Did he ever hog the headlines for the right reasons?

One of the few players who have always been a part of big clubs like PSG, Arsenal, Juventus, Real Madrid, Nicolas Anelka, though is known for his wrong reasons rather than his right ones.

Anelka had enjoyed success with France at Euro 2000 and the 2001 Confederations Cup, but he spent three years in the international wilderness after falling out with head coach Jacques Santini in late 2002.

Rehabilitated under Domenech, he went to the last World Cup in South Africa as a first-choice player, but a spectacular outburst at half-time of a 2-0 group-phase loss to Mexico saw him expelled from the squad.

His team-mates boycotted a training session in protest, but popular opinion turned against Anelka once French sports daily L’Equipe reported that he had told Domenech: "Go and fuck yourself, you dirty son of a whore!"

His punishment was an 18-match ban from the French Football Federation, effectively ending his international career, but he met the sanction with scorn, claiming that he was "dying with laughter".

Following unsatisfying spells at Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua and Juventus, he made West Bromwich Albion his 11th club last year and, as ever, drama was quick to follow.

After scoring his first goal for West Brom at West Ham United in December, he celebrated by making the ‘quenelle’ salute popularised by French comedian Dieudonne, who has been prosecuted for anti-Semitism.

The headlines were his once more, but despite his protestation that he was "neither racist nor anti-Semite", punishment was again quick to follow.

And now he happily said that he wants to leave his club, and ended up getting sacked the very next day.

One of the "Bad Boys" of football world.