While Avram Grant hailed Nicolas Anelka as a changed man who has learnt from his mistakes, the player himself was adamant last night that Chelsea are the last club that he will play for.

The West London side secured Anelka’s return to the capital by agreeing to match Bolton Wanderers’ £15 million valuation yesterday, the final £2 million dependent on appearances. The forward has signed a 4½-year deal at Stamford Bridge and will be thrust straight into the deep end by making his debut for his eighth club — and fifth in the Barclays Premier League — in the home match against Tottenham Hotspur today. “This is the team I wanted to join and I never want to go anywhere else again. I’m delighted everything has been sorted out,” Anelka said.

“I want to play Champions League football, I want to win trophies and Chelsea can give me that. I’m really looking forward to working with Avram Grant and following his style of football because it suits my game. I’ve been really impressed with what he and the team have done this season in what were very difficult circumstances. The quality of players here is fantastic and the competition for places excites me.”

Arsène Wenger, Anelka’s former manager, has given an insight into what might have been by describing the France player’s acrimonious departure from Arsenal as the biggest regret of his career.

Wenger, as the man who discovered Anelka in the Paris Saint-Germain youth team, knows more about the player than most, both good and bad, but preferred to dwell on the positive. It is an indication of his enduring admiration that the Arsenal manager considered taking him back to the club last summer, eight years after he went on strike to force his exit.

“It is my biggest regret that he left Arsenal,” the manager said. “I still believe that he made a big mistake.Last summer when [Thierry] Henry wanted to leave, I considered bringing Nicolas back here but I decided to go with Eduardo [da Silva] and [Nicklas] Bendtner.”

One thing that has not changed is Anelka’s astonishing capacity to generate money, both for himself and others, as Wenger noted wryly. The 28-year-old has been an agent’s dream since he fell out with Arsenal in the summer of 1999 over their refusal to match his wage demands, moving clubs almost every other year for a combined transfer fee of £87 million, making him the most expensive player in football history.

“His transfers have been amazing,” Wenger said. “He is a bank. No bank has made more money than Nicolas Anelka. He has had a funny career because he has the talent to play for any club in the world and he has nearly played for every one of them.”

Another constant has been the glut of goals, though such is his natural talent that a career record of 133 from 412 matches in some ways represents a disappointing return.

It is Grant’s belief that Anelka’s best years lie ahead of him, however, with the Chelsea first-team coach hoping that a return to a club playing in the Champions League after several seasons at a lower level will bring further improvements to his game. “Anelka can take the chances that will make the difference in matches,” the Chelsea first-team coach said. “He’s been at so many clubs, but he’s at a good age and has said he wants to finish his career at Chelsea.

“He’s learnt from his mistakes of the past. He had a bad reputation ten years ago, but I could say the same about any of us. What’s important to me is the character of the person and he will be very good for us. His best years could be ahead of him as he has the quality and the passion.”