Anelka slips into Shanghai

BEIJING - No throng of fans and media. No cheers or flowers.

Eagerly awaited French star Nicolas Anelka landed quietly in Shanghai on Wednesday morning, hours ahead of his new Shenhua teammates and club officials who were in Spain for a preseason training camp.

The surprise early arrival enabled him to pass through immigration quickly and deny local fans the opportunity to welcome the former French international.

The 32-year-old's arrival in Shanghai was brought to light on the Internet two hours later, when a staff member at Shanghai Pudong International Airport posted a photo of the Frenchman passing through immigration on his weibo account. Anelka was then seen having breakfast at a five-star restaurant near the Bund by another weibo user.

Since the announcement that Anelka had inked a two-year deal with Shanghai in December, the former Chelsea striker has regularly appeared in Chinese soccer media headlines.

According to Zhu Jun, Shenhua boss, Anelka's deal also includes a commercial contract with on-line game "Firefall", which was developed by Zhu's company. Anelka will make his public debut as a spokesman for the game on Thursday night in Shanghai.

The Frenchman shined in the English Premier League, especially during the 2008-09 season with Chelsea, when he was the league's leading scorer with 19 goals. However, under new coach Andre Villas-Boas, Anelka struggled and scored only one goal this season in limited playing time with the Blues.

The once-dominant Shanghai Shenhua club slipped to 11th place last season in the top-flight CSL and wants to add to its stocks by bringing in some big names to compete with teams like champion side Guangzhou Evergrande. Shenhua is still chasing Anelka's former teammate at Chelsea, Didier Drogba. That deal seems to have hit a wall.

China Daily