Botched Transfer Details Mean Anelka Can’t Play in Chelsea’s Last Game

By: Laurie | May 5th, 2008

Let’s say your team is owned by a Russian billionaire, one of the richest men in the world. He has no problem tossing cash around with profligacy to benefit the team. He uses this money to get what he wants, to the point that his team has four of the top twenty highest-earning players in the world and is currently in the running for both Champions League and the Premier League title.

You would think that this owner could use his billions to structure a transfer deal that would allow his 15 million January signing to play in perhaps the most important game of the season, right?

Not the case.

The EPL title race is going down to the wire. Manchester United and Chelsea are tied on points after ManU’s win over West Ham on Saturday and Chelsea’s 2-0 win today over Newcastle. Manchester has a huge lead on goal differential, so if they win next week’s game against Wigan, they win the league. (Unless Chelsea scores an obscene amount of goals against Bolton.) But if ManU were to stumble and get less than the win, it would open the door for Chelsea. They need to win this game against Bolton.

Unfortunately, manager Avram Grant has one less weapon in his arsenal than expected. Striker Nicolas Anelka won’t be available to play.

A new rule introduced last summer states a player cannot face his former team after moving on loan and then signing permanently for that club. Although it was never made public at the time, Anelka actually signed for Chelsea on loan on the night of Friday January 11. That was because there was not enough time to arrange a permanent switch before the home meeting with Spurs the next day.

The deal was sealed the following week but the method of Anelka’s transfer means he can only play one more Premier League game this season — at Newcastle on Monday. [The game that was played today.]

Chelsea asked the Premier League board on Tuesday for special dispensation but their case was thrown out.

Anelka hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire at Chelsea since the transfer. (And yes, this does break my Anelka-loving heart. Thanks for asking.) And Bolton hasn’t had a great season and is currently sitting just outside of the relegation zone. Chances are that this won’t make a difference in the final Premier League standings.

But next time around, Roman Abramovich might want to use his billions to make the transfer into an actual transfer right from the start.