His goals in the 1997-98 season fired the Gunners to a League and FA Cup double but the following year his relationship with the club was soured over contract demands and, after a drawn-out saga, he was sold to Real Madrid for £22million where he won the Champions League.

He moved to PSG after just one season in La Liga but has failed to hold down a regular place and Liverpool snapped him up on loan to fill the void left by Robbie Fowler’s high-profile transfer to Leeds.

The deal is until the end of the season but Liverpool have the option of buying him at the end of that spell.

‘‘It is a good move for me,’’ Anelka said today.

‘‘Liverpool are a very big club with a very good profile and I think it will help my career,’’ he told the club’s website, www.liverpoolfc.tv.

The club have agreed terms with both PSG and the player and Anelka will undergo a medical this weekend with a view to making his debut on Boxing Day against Aston Villa.

Former Reds midfielder Terry McDermott believes Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier can get the best out of the maverick striker.

The three-time European Cup winner reckons his old club’s shock move to bring the controversial Frenchman to Anfield suggests Houllier thinks he can get the best out of his former protege, whom he coached at the French soccer academy at Clairefontaine.

‘‘Obviously if he reproduces his form for Arsenal it will be fantastic for Liverpool,’’ said McDermott.

However, McDermott told Radio Five Live that in spite of his undoubted skill, he was concerned Anelka would also bring to Anfield the baggage that he has carried around with him since his acrimonious departure from Highbury.

‘‘You don’t carry on the way he had carried on. It was quite ridiculous what went on,’’ he added.

‘‘But I think there is every chance Anelka has some understanding with Houllier that we don’t know about.

‘‘There is certainly something there. It is a gamble but one which Liverpool think is worth taking.’’

Caretaker manager Phil Thompson spoke of his delight at bringing Anelka to the club.

‘‘This is an amazing deal for us and for him. It is something that we have been looking at for a while and, all being well, he will be involved at Aston Villa.

‘‘The opportunity came up to sign Nicolas on loan for this season and it is one we grabbed.

‘‘It is a move which increases our options in attack and one which gives Nicolas the chance to stake his claim for a place in the French World Cup squad next year.

‘‘He is a tremendous player and I’m sure this signing will whet the appetite of everyone at the club as well as the fans.

‘‘Anelka has already done it in the Premiership with Arsenal and that was one of the big things we took into consideration.

‘‘He has great pace, great goalscoring ability and I know from speaking to him that he is very excited by the prospect of coming here.’’

Thompson also revealed that Houllier, who is currently recovering in France from heart surgery, worked hard to complete the Anelka deal.

‘‘Gerard is resting at the moment but he’s still very involved in everything that is going on and he worked hard to do this deal.

‘‘Gerard has known Nicolas since his days in the French Academy system and he knows what a good job he can do for us.

‘‘Everybody knows Nicolas and what he is capable of. I am sure we can all get something out of this deal and we are all looking forward to it.

‘‘It is a chance for Nicolas to resurrect his career and it means that we can cater for all eventualities in our forward play.’’