£86.8m: Nicolas Anelka's move to the Bridge makes him the world's most expensive player

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The Frenchman's £15million switch to Chelsea from Bolton means he has now eclipsed Juan Veron as the most expensive footballer in the world. Add in signing-on fees, lavish contracts and goal bonuses and he is probably one of the wealthiest as well.

For most clubs, a history of attitude problems and dubious levels of commitment would be off-putting, yet the 28-year-old's star has remained undiminished.

"Anelka has got everything,"said Kevin Keegan, who signed him for Manchester City in 2002. "He has missed out sometimes due to the climate at a particular club. But look what he brought Arsenal. They bought him for less than a million and sold him for £22.3million, which financed a training ground."

It is perhaps memories of those remarkable exploits as a teenage Double winner at Highbury, along with a proven track record for goalscoring since leaving north London, that explain the astonishing sum of £86.8m that has been spent on him in transfer fees.

Before today's switch to Stamford Bridge, Anelka was second on the alltime transfer list behind Veron (£76.2m).

The biggest deals came early in his career. The move from Arsenal for Real Madrid, following all the acrimony over the role of his advisors, cost the Spanish giants £22.3m.

However, they recouped most of that outlay when he was subsequently offloaded to his boyhood club Paris St Germain for a similar price.

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Money man: Anelka's move to Chelsea makes him the world's costliest player, with seven clubs having paid a total of £86.8m in transfer fees

Anelka returned to English football on loan to Liverpool in 2001, but Gerard Houllier baulked at the offer of a permanent deal and he joined City instead for £12m.

After successive seasons as the Manchester club's top scorer, he was on the move again in 2005 - a £7m switch to Fenerbahce - before making a third Premier League comeback when signed by Sam Allardyce's Bolton for £8m in August 2006.

Despite the excitement generated by Anelka's arrival at Chelsea, his former manager, Arsene Wenger, appears unconcerned by the potential boost his title rivals may get.

The Frenchman said today: "It makes no difference to me. Chelsea can still play only 11 players. They do not have Didier Drogba [who is at the African Nations' Cup] but I think Anelka is a good replacement for him. When he comes back they can play together."

Chelsea play another London club, Tottenham, at Stamford Bridge tomorrow and Avram Grant is backing his players to come through another test of character, particularly now Anelka has joined the squad.

Grant said: "The players have stepped up for the club every time I have asked.

"With Chelsea you never know what is going to happen next, but the commitment of the players and staff has always been very high. There is a good spirit and dedication here."

The manager had been preparing for the game without Anelka in mind but his attacking options have now been enhanced after the protracted transfer of the Frenchman was finally agreed.

The club have met a 5pm deadline to register the transfer with the Premier League for Anelka to be eligible for the game, and he is expected to replace Claudio Pizarro in attack. Anelka joins on a four-and-a-half-year deal and, as a former Arsenal player, will be relishing the prospect of coming up against Spurs, who have not won at Chelsea for 18 years.

Grant's side is already missing at least seven regular players; the captain, his deputy and the star striker among them. And, in a further blow, Ashley Cole revealed today that he is still suffering from the ankle problem which kept him below par last season.

Grant is also likely to still be without Andriy Shevchenko, whose calf injury is one of the reasons the focus on completing the Anelka deal this week was so intense.

With Drogba on international duty, this was supposed to be the costly Ukrainian's chance to finally shine for Chelsea. He did so briefly in his last game, against Aston Villa, when he scored twice and set up a third in a performance which showed why owner Roman Abramovich tried for so long to sign him from AC Milan in a British record £31m deal.

But his time at Chelsea appears to be cursed - and, with now Anelka in the fold, he is likely to fall down the pecking order, particularly when star striker Drogba returns from Africa.

Grant added: "Shevchenko is still a long way off and that is unfortunate because he, more than others, waited for so long to perform so well and did great in his last game.

"He was like the Sheva that we needed and it is a shame he is not available. It is not good for the team or for him, because he is a good guy."

He will find soon enough, though, if Chelsea have signed a better one.