Anelka warms to his spiritual home

By Tuesday at Highbury, everything had returned to normal, as the goalscoring was accompanied by the usual face-pulling. But just for a few hours two Saturdays ago against Everton, Nicolas Anelka seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Netting his first two goals (he thought it was a hat-trick until one of the goals was later annulled) in the blue of Manchester City no doubt played its part, but there was more to his rare smiles. Behind that often icy exterior, you could tell that the warmth towards team-mates and fans was genuine. At Maine Road, it seems, Anelka feels understood and, above all, wanted.

How long the love affair will last no one knows. Even those who understand Anelka best have never been able to work him out completely. Witness Arsène Wenger, who prised him away from Paris St-Germain when he was still a teenager, or Luis Fernandez, who coached him at two different stages ofhis career at the French club. That Anelka is an enigma is not in doubt, but the fact he has played for five major European clubs, amassing transfer fees of more than £60m along the way, suggests that this is a genuine talent at work, and a gamble worth taking. Blackburn Rovers, today's visitors, may provide further testimony.

According to one of the coaches who knows Anelka best, you can forget about the caricature that we have created. Coach Christian Damiano, who first worked with Anelka when he was a 15-year-old apprentice at the French national academy in Clairefontaine, says that the Frenchman is warm, funny and engaging. "Nico is shy," says Damiano, who is now assistant manager at Fulham, "but he is a good guy, too. He is someone who needs love and attention, which I think he is getting with Kevin Keegan. People say he is arrogant, but I think he is misunderstood. Because he is so confident about his own ability, he can sometimes come across as being aloof or conceited. But he's actually just hard-working."

Anelka reveals that he will often stay behind after training sessions have finished. "I'll hang around for an extra hour or so practising volleys, free-kicks and also penalties," he says. "I get so involved that Kevin Keegan usually has to come and interrupt me. He'll put his arm around me and say, 'OK, Nico son, that'll do, we have to go now, time to shut up shop'."

Anelka's biggest problem is that he does not play the media game. True, his behaviour when seeking a big-money move to Real Madrid in the summer of 1999 left a lot to be desired, but he was just 19. And this was the great Real Madrid calling after all. In the furore surrounding the £23m transfer, people have overlooked the fact that Arsenal were quite happy to sell at the right price. They have also forgotten that Anelka went on to win the Champions' League with the Spanish giants, something he is unlikely to have done had he stayed at Highbury. Perhaps history would have favoured Wenger's team had Anelka remained. Perhaps not.

"Nico made some big changes at a very young age, which is always dangerous," Damiano says. "In that respect, it is little wonder that things didn't work out at Real or PSG. A player is a fragile machine that needs to be looked after if it is going to perform well. Until now, I'm not sure Nico ever had that after he left Arsenal. You need stability off the pitch to find efficiency on it."

Compared to his great friend and the man who replaced him at Arsenal, Thierry Henry, Anelka is less expressive but no less talented. "Just imagine if they were playing together," muses Damiano. "Now that would be an explosive combination." Damiano should know. Along with Juventus's David Trezeguet, Henry and Anelka formed the strikeforce of the French Under-18s who won the European Championship in 1996.

"Nico was actually a year younger than the rest of the boys," Damiano says, "but I always felt he had the necessary skills to be in a superior team. He's one of those guys who has a flawless technique and phenomenal array of weapons. But Nico needs to feel secure to play well. When he was with me, I would make sure Titi [Henry] looked after him like a brother."

Anelka is not one for sentimentality, but he admitted on his personal website that he had found a new spiritual father at Manchester City – someone who understood his needs. "I really like the coach," he says of Keegan. "I work well with him and he has a lot of confidence in me. It had been a long time – since Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, really – since I'd experienced this feeling."

Anelka moved in to his house 10 days ago – another sign of his new-found contentment. Damiano also feels that the player has matured on the field. The finisherhas become a more rounded, generous player, who works down the flanks to create space for others. Anelka agrees. "I've changed my style of play. Before, I used to play in front of the goal and wait for my chance. Now, I go and create openings. I'm much more involved in the build-up."

Given time to adapt to life in Manchester, Damiano believes Anelka can become one of the most consistent strikers in the Premiership. "Forget his first stint at Arsenal," Damiano says. "Now Nico is older and he has to prove that he can be a top goalscorer week-in, week-out. He has the potential, not least because he has that very English quality of being able to shield the ball. Add to that his great pace, and the combination is frightening."

So many changes before the age of 23 cannot have helped Anelka settle, but you sense that he might have found his spiritual home at City. Anelka is happy at last. "To hear the fans screaming around me and chanting my name," he says, "is a wonderful feeling. People will try to draw the parallel between my goals with City and those I scored with Arsenal and Liverpool, but I quite honestly don't like that kind of comparison. Yesterday, I was the Nico of Arsenal and Liverpool. Today, I am the Nico of City."