'The system sickens me': Troubled Man City superstar that nobody else wanted

If you were to choose a player that Pep Guardiola would break Manchester City's transfer record for, it might not be a man with attitude, and an attitude problem, who nobody else wanted and who didn't really want to join.

He was a Champions League and European Championship winner who had scored goals for some of Europe's biggest clubs. But with the modern City putting the character of a potential signing on a par with talent, if a 23-year-old Nicolas Anelka was available now, they probably wouldn't have signed him.

City didn't just sign players like him back in 2002 though, and they couldn't turn down the opportunity to sign a genuine superstar - e ven if he did come laden with with an almighty amount of baggage ...

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Anelka had left PSG as a teenager to join Arsenal as he wanted more playing time. His form at Highbury prompted Real Madrid to bring him to the Spanish capital, but Anelka didn't suit Madrid and Madrid didn't suit Anelka.

Despite playing a starring role in their 2000 Champions League win, public battles with the Spanish media and the Real hierarchy ensured a return to PSG after just a year.

"I understood what being a star was like and I hated it," he later reflected on his time at Madrid, taking exception to invasions to his private life and the expectations of immediate success associated with being a Number 9 for Real.

The transfer fee to take him back to Paris was funded by Canal+, PSG's then-owners, and sponsors Nike covered much of his reported £35,000-per-week wages. He would only last 18-months into a six-year contract