Chelsea's new £15m signing Nicolas Anelka says his "Le Sulk"
reputation is entirely unfounded.
The 28-year-old, who has played for eight clubs in his career,
said: "Ask a player I played with in England and they won't say a
bad word about me."
Anelka also rejected claims he would have preferred to rejoin
Arsenal.
"Arsenal was good, but it's in the past, I'm happy to be here," he
said. "We're still in the race to win everything and I'll try to do
it."
Anelka, who has now cost £85m in transfer fees, began his career at
Paris St Germain before joining the Gunners in 1997.
He also played for Real Madrid, Paris St Germain again, Liverpool,
Manchester City and Fenerbahce before joining Bolton.
There were rumours he found it difficult to mix with teammates but
he said: "Sometimes you are happy when you play football and
sometimes you are not happy.
"Maybe some people saw me when I was not happy but no, I don't
think it's fair."
Now at Stamford Bridge, Anelka insists he does not expect to be
permanently guaranteed first-team football but will remain fully
committed to the Chelsea cause.
"It's a big club with big players and if the manager gives me the
chance to play, I'll play and try to do my best," he said.
"If I have to start on the bench, I'll do the same. I knew this
before I signed. I'm just happy to be here."
Another mischievous suggestion that Anelka was quick to play down
was that he could not form an effective strike partnership with
Didier Drogba, who is currently away at the African Nations
Cup.
"It's not very difficult to play with him," Anelka said.
"He can do everything and he's clever and can play with his back to
the goal. I like this kind of striker. I can turn around him and
give him some good balls to score."
