Mumbai City FC marquee-player-cum-manager Nicolas Anelka has revealed that he has fallen in love with the city of Mumbai and he was sure that he would come back this season and play for the same franchise.
Anelka has also stated that he only wants to win games with his club and Mumbai City FC is the only team he wanted to play for and manage in the second season of the star-studded Indian Super League (ISL).
Anelka went on to praise the ISL tournament as he was impressed with the level of challenge and competition during the first season.
"When I left Mumbai last season, I said if I have to come back to India, I want to come back only to Mumbai. Well I liked the show I saw last year, I liked everything about India, I like fans, I like Mumbai, I like the [competition] level because the level is high as well," Anelka was quoted as saying by the ISL website.
Anelka played seven games for Mumbai City FC in the first season of the ISL. He did score on a number of occasions for them as well. But during the second season of the tournament, he will have the added responsibility of being the manager of the team.
"As a player you know what you have to do, as a manager as well. For me the most important [thing] will be to win games. As a player I want to win games, of course as a manager I want to win games as well so there's no extra pressure," Anleka added.
Mumbai City FC owner Ranbir Kapoor has been backing his side right from the inception of the tournament and that has impressed the former French international. Anelka stated that he likes the way the owner backs the side and the latter is also passionate about the game and the entire team.
"As you can see, he loves football, he loves Mumbai, Mumbai City. He is dedicated to Mumbai like I am dedicated to Mumbai. He wants to win because he represents Mumbai City," Anleka said about co-owner Ranbir Kapoor.
The ISL 2015 starts next Saturday when Chenniayin FC will take on the defending champions Atletico de Kolkata at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. Mumbai City FC will begin their ISL 2015 campaign with FC Pune City on 6 October at the Balewadi Stadium.
