Courtesy of Flickr user Andrea Sartorati
Earlier this month, we here at The Pride of London reported that former Chelsea FC striker Nicolas Anelka would be joining the legendary Ronaldinho at Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro. Well it appears that those reports were true in the sense that the club was planning on signing the Frenchman but the deal has fallen through at the last minute. Atletico Mineiro’s director of football Eduardo Maluf claimed that they had never spoken to the player but had been speaking to his agent Cristian Cazini who said that Nicolas Anelka could not be in Brazil until Saturday. Unfortunately for Anelka, the club was not willing to wait that long and nixed the deal.
The two parties had supposedly agreed on everything according to Maluf but the delay was too much for Mineiro. They had originally planned to unveil Anelka last week but the Frenchman had traveled to a Muslim youth summit in Kuwait. The club undoubtedly appreciated his philanthropic work but they decided that he could do that on his own time rather than wasting theirs. Maluf said in response to the delay that “We decided the contract was cancelled. We are not going to wait until the 19th”.
This is the latest in the strange career that is Nicolas Anelka’s journey through world football. He may have actually wanted to continue his career in Brazil but his relaxed attitude towards deadlines tell a different story. Our last story began with the line that “Nicolas Anelka’s career just does not want to end” but it appears that this may have been the last straw. However, knowing the Frenchman, he will likely sign with another club in the summer and continue his strange career in an “exotic” place.
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