Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka could join former France teammate Thierry Henry at Red Bull New York in the summer.
Reports from France have indicated that Anelka is unhappy with the purchase of Fernando Torres and is looking to move on rather than fight for his place in the squad. The 31 year old has been ever-present at Chelsea since his 2008 move from Bolton and has clocked up 142 appearances as well as scoring 53 times in all competitions.
Chelsea would be reluctant to let Anelka go after he recently signed an extension on his contract keeping him at the club until 2012 but Anelka is no stranger to transfers. If the move goes ahead in the summer New York will be Anelka’s ninth senior club in 15 years.
With Sturridge still developing, loosing Anelka would leave Chelsea vulnerable to injury up front and on the evidence of the Frenchman’s recent performances it would be counterproductive to let him leave. Torres’ arrival doesn’t necessarily mean that Anelka will be banished to the bench as opposed to simply being played behind the two strikers.
The journey over the Atlantic seems to be the in-thing to do, however, and with Henry no doubt waxing lyrical about the Empire State, Chelsea may find themselves struggling to keep Anelka in London.
