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It was December 2001 when the France international striker joined Liverpool on a mid-season loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
With manager Gerard Houllier and assistant Phil Thompson seeking extra firepower for their Premier League title push in the second half of the campaign, Anelka made the Reds his fifth club by the age of 22.
The electric Frenchman enjoyed his time under Houllier and scored five times in 22 appearances before the end of the season
it became widely assumed that the move would be made permanent.
For reasons that are still to be publicly detailed, the dream would be dashed.
An official club statement confirmed the decision, saying:
Club statement
"After a lot of thought we've decided not to make Nicolas Anelka's move from Paris St Germain a permanent one.
"This was a difficult decision and we know that Nicolas will be very disappointed, but the manager has always had to do what he thinks is best for the club and the development of the team."
Houllier would later say:
"I don't want to expose the reasons why I didn't want to sign him, but I think he knows why and it has nothing to do with football."
Rumours over his brothers, who were acting as his representatives, and their questionable demands swirled, something which the late, great Houllier briefly addressed in 2015. "I wish I had kept Nicolas Anelka,"
"But his brothers didn’t help him."
Anelka later said
"Liverpool fans think I didn't want to stay," he said. "They need to know that that wasn't the case.
That episode was tragic for me.
It's a club where I could have done great things. I did well, they played the game I was looking for and the atmosphere was good. For me there was no question, but obviously that did not suit Mr Houllier."
It's fair to label the decision not to sign Anelka as one of the great missteps of 21st century Liverpool. Or, more specifically, his choice of replacement was.
El-Hadji Diouf
For Diouf, it simply did not matter that he was playing for one of the most famous clubs in world football.
Jon Otsemobor recalls
"I was still a young lad and I was just disappointed thinking he took my friendship and used it,"
"I felt at the time, when I went into the dressing room, you can't just use me like that, I'm your friend.
"If he needed a place to stay and all that, fine, but I'm not hosting parties for all the different people who were flying into the country every weekend!"
Jamie Carragher once said.
"Actually, I quite enjoyed playing against him as you could kick him then – can’t kick your own players
The 43-year-old's name is regularly floated when the discussion of Liverpool's worst-ever signings is brought up and there are few redeeming times to counter such arguments.
A penny for Nicolas Anelka's thoughts.
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