Don't make the same mistake as me, Anelka warns Didier

• More Chelsea news

The France striker may have earned a reputation for being selfish and uncommunicative during a career which now spans eight clubs in little more than a decade.

Scroll down for more

But he was anxious to speak with Drogba and convince him they can share many beautiful years together at Stamford Bridge. The pair spoke on the phone on Wednesday and Anelka will pursue the issue when Drogba returns next month from the Africa Cup of Nations.

'When Didier comes back I will speak with him because he doesn't know anything about when you leave England,' said Chelsea's new £15million man. 'I do because I did it and I know that English football and the Premier League are the best.

'I know what happened in my life and I will try to explain what happens when you leave. I will tell him to stay because he will not find anywhere else what he has in Chelsea. He is a big star, everybody loves him and if, after that, he decides to leave, what can you do?

'But he is nearly 30 and if he goes and wants to come back it is going to be very difficult. I did it when I was 20. If he signs somewhere and regrets it, it is very hard to come back at 31.'

Anelka, 28, who left Arsenal in 1999, insists he has no regrets. Why should he have after winning the Champions League with Real Madrid and banking millions from his transfers around Europe?

But, as he reflected on his controversial career on Thursday, there was a distinct undertone of disappointment about the fact that his reputation seems to have robbed him of many years at the very top.

When his £23m move to Real Madrid turned sour after just one season, he spent the next eight years searching for a stage worthy of his world-class talents.

'I went on loan to Liverpool and I wanted to stay but they didn't sign me,' said Anelka. 'So after that it was like chasing a big club. That's why I moved and moved and moved. If I had signed for a big club, I wouldn't have moved the way I did.

'I went to Manchester City but I knew my quality and I wanted to play Champions League again. If Liverpool had wanted me to sign, I believe I would still be there today.

'I could have played Champions League every year and I would have been a much better player than I am now. When you play with big players you have more quality. I could have been better. But that's in the past now.'

Earlier this week, Arsene Wenger claimed Anelka's heart was still at Arsenal and revealed how the striker had wanted to return to the club last summer as a replacement for Thierry Henry.

Anelka did not deny it but said: 'I don't regret leaving Arsenal. You cannot say no when Real Madrid come for you. I did what I had to do and I am happy. No regrets. Life is like that. It was great to win the Champions League but I knew I could not stay very long in Spain because it is so different from England. In Spain you can't do anything. If you drive, everyone recognises you. At a restaurant you have paparazzi outside. I prefer the life in England.'

The striker has been dubbed 'Le Sulk' and has found the tag impossible to shake, despite a glowing series of references from managers who have prospered from his goals.

'I knew what people were saying but I tried to be simple and play well on the pitch,' said Anelka. 'The most important thing is that the people around me know me. If people want to say bad things about me that are not true, what can I do?

'I am more shy than anything. I don't like to speak too much, so maybe that's why people thought I was arrogant. I was very young. I did not speak very good English at Arsenal — and Spain was difficult for me. I think my reputation is unfair. I never said or did anything wrong in my career. What people said was wrong. If you ask the players who played with me at Bolton, Arsenal, City and Liverpool, they will say nothing bad about me.

'I never gave up. I worked every game. Every day I tried to be my best, even at smaller clubs. I worked hard for City, Bolton, even in Fenerbahce.

'I came back in the national team and I am back at a big club because I never gave up. But I am not here to show what I can do because I am not important. The most important thing is Chelsea, that we win games and trophies.'

And there endeth the lesson for Drogba, who seems to have made up his mind to leave Chelsea because the grass appears greener elsewhere.

Anelka has spent the last eight years like a lost soul trying to find the right club and will not watch Drogba fall into the same trap without offering his advice. Far from aloof and arrogant, Chelsea may have found a new agony aunt.