I regret Real Madrid transfer after shining at Arsenal – it was a real nightmare

For the vast majority of footballers, donning the iconic white jersey of Real Madrid represents a dream achieved. However, for Nicolas Anelka, it swiftly turned into a surreal nightmare.

The former French striker confessed that he detested the pressures that came with being a Galactico from the moment he signed, finding himself overwhelmed by the all-encompassing glare of fame and incessant scrutiny. After bursting onto the scene at as a 17-year-old, Anelka's meteoric rise seemed unstoppable, culminating in a record-breaking £22.3million transfer to in 1999, making him the most expensive teenager in football history.

Anelka scored 17 league goals in his final season at Highbury, and the football world regarded him as a fledgling superstar. In theory, joining the Madrid giants should've been the catalyst to catapult Anelka to new heights, but instead, the experience nearly sent his promising career into a tailspin.

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"I understood what it meant to be a star when I arrived at Real Madrid, and I hated it," explained Anelka, now 46, in the Netflix documentary Anelka: Misunderstood. "After being greeted at the airport by fans and journalists, I thought: 'What am I doing here? This is too hard.' It was the beginning of a nightmare.

"I felt a lot of pressure from the start. Every day in the Spanish press there was an article or a photo about me."

Anelka's struggles to find form only compounded the issue. Behind both Raul and Fernando Morientes in the pecking order, the forward found himself restricted to a fringe role. His first goal for the club did not arrive until five months after his transfer, exacerbating the situation.

Anelka's experience serves as a reminder that the limelight of playing for one of football's behemoths can often be double-edged, representing both an unrivalled platform for success as well as a weight that can affect even the most promising players. He ended his sole season at the club with two goals in La Liga before being sold to PSG.

"I would have liked to score more, but I didn't have the chance, and I didn't measure up," Anelka admitted. "Too many things happened.

"In part, I do regret it. Players always want to play for Real Madrid. There were too many sacrifices to make and I was too young to understand."

Anelka's tenure at Real Madrid was brief, lasting only a year, but the repercussions were significant. His confidence took a hit, and he struggled to rediscover the form he had displayed at Highbury.

By 2002, the former record-setting wonderkid found himself back in England playing for a mid-table Manchester City. Reflecting on his career, Anelka acknowledged that leaving Arsenal was a mistake. Under Arsene Wenger, he had thrived, though he perhaps did not fully appreciate that at the time.

However, Arsenal fans didn't have much time to rue his departure, as they soon witnessed the rise of another exceptional French talent, Thierry Henry. It wasn't until his move to in 2008 that Anelka once again found a stage worthy of his abilities.

Alongside Didier Drogba, he played a pivotal role in securing a Premier League title and two FA Cups for the Blues. Although he departed Stamford Bridge during the middle of Chelsea's 2011/12 Champions League-winning season, Anelka didn't feel the sting of missing out, having already claimed the prestigious trophy with Real Madrid twelve years prior.

His football journey also took him to Shanghai Shenhua, Juventus, West Brom and Mumbai City before he decided to hang up his boots in 2015. He retired with an impressive tally of over 220 career goals, including 14 for France.

Arsenal are set to face Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash on Tuesday night. The Gunners are aiming to make it to the semi-finals for the first time since 2009.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is looking to become only the second manager to clinch back-to-back Champions League titles in the tournament's modern era. Zinedine Zidane remains the sole achiever of this feat, having led Madrid to a historic three-peat from 2016 to 2018.

With five triumphs already under his belt, Ancelotti holds the record as the most successful coach in European Cup history. A sixth title would further distance him from Zidane, Bob Paisley, and Pep Guardiola, who each have three.