Senior Real Madrid striker Nicolas Anelka sensationally lifted the lid on his brief spell in the Spanish capital.
Anelka completed a shock switch to Los Blancos ahead of the 1999/2000 season, having scored 17 league goals in the previous campaign, as Arsenal won a Premier League and FA Cup double.
His form for the Gunners has alerted Real Madrid to his rise as one of the best young strikers in Europe.
However, despite high hopes of replicating that in Madrid, the former France international has struggled to show his best.
Anelka often criticized the media's intrusion into his life in Spain – as he did not score a goal in his first five months at the club – before leaving after just one season.
He returned to Paris Saint-Germain before 2000/01 – the club for which he left Arsenal in 1997 – and opened up about his problems in Madrid as part of a new Netflix Documentary Anelka: Misunderstood.
Wenger, Henry, Drogba, Petit, Pogba and – *of course* – Nicolas Anelka, speaking of Nicolas Anelka? Yes. Very good. Anelka: Misunderstood arrives on Netflix on August 5th. pic.twitter.com/dg1xXIbBbT
– Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) July 22, 2020
“I understood what it meant to be a star when I came to Real Madrid, and I hated it,” he said.
“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 beginning. Every day in the Spanish press there was an article or a photo about me.
“I would have liked to score more, but I didn't have the chance, and I didn't measure up. Too many things happened. In part, I regret it. The players always want to play for Real Madrid.
“There was too much sacrifice to make and I was too young to understand.”
Anelka left Madrid with seven goals scored in all competitions in 1999/00, but secured a UEFA Champions League winners' medal as he started in Real Madrid's 3-0 final win. Valencia.
