Former Olympique Marseille coach Rolland Courbis admits they almost signed Nicolas Anelka when he was breaking through at Arsenal.

Courbis, writing for La Phoceen, revealed OM came close to signing Anelka back in 1998.

The French club had come close to agreeing a transfer with Arsenal.

However, the move fell through, as the Frenchman began to score and regained the confidence of Gunners manager Arsene Wenger.

Anelka had two years with Arsenal until he moved to Real Madrid in 1999.