‘Ronaldo, Messi robbed them’ – Anelka expresses concern for new generational footballers

Former Chelsea and Arsenal striker, Nicolas Anelka has claimed that the current generation of footballers have been robbed by the domination of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Anelka believes both Ronaldo and Messi have made youngsters keen on playing as right or left wingers instead of center forwards.

Speaking on Disrupters, the Frenchman claimed that upcoming players are not interested in becoming natural number 9s, adding that they are only interested in replicating the Ballon d’Or winners.

“Today, to find a number 9 there are fewer and fewer. The new generation was robbed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi,” Anelka said.

“And Messi and Ronaldo are two offensive players, but not number 9 attackers.

“All the young people identified with Ronaldo and Messi wanted to start playing either on the left or the right.”