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Gary Neville says Arsenal once sold an ‘unbelievable’ player for £23m who was unlike anyone he’s ever seen
Arsenal have had some players over the years who have been ridiculously gifted.
Jack Wilshere was an unbelievable technical talent, Theo Walcott had pace that was almost god-given, while Thierry Henry was the total package in every sense of the word.
Speaking on Stick to Football, Gary Neville has been discussing some of those classic Arsenal teams, and he reserved some special praise for another player.
Indeed, Neville says that one of the most frightening players he’d ever come up against was a young Nicolas Anelka.
The Frenchman spent just two years at Arsenal before joining Real Madrid for , and Neville says that the centre-forward was a breathtaking talent during his time at Arsenal.
Gary Neville hails Nicolas Anelka at Arsenal
The pundit shared his verdict on the striker.
“Anelka and Bergkamp in my mind were unbelievable. That team was unbelievable at that point. Anelka, he was like Ronaldo, the Brazilian Ronaldo almost. I’d never seen anything like it. The pace of him at Old Trafford, he was breathtakingly quick. It was like ‘oh my god, what is that?’” Neville said.
Nicolas Anelka is a Premier League great
Nicolas Anelka often gets forgotten when great Premier League strikers are discussed, but his CV speaks for itself.
He won the league with two different clubs, he was a Golden Boot winner, he hit double figures in terms of goals on seven separate occasions, and he turned up in big moments.
Of course, his spell at Arsenal was cut short due to Real Madrid’s interest, but he more than made up for lost time during his spell at Chelsea, while he even banged in the goals for Bolton too.
Anelka was, at his best, a world-class striker, and Neville is right to highlight him as one of the top talents of his generation.
Anelka’s time at Arsenal was only short, but he made a serious impact during his time in north London.