RIO DE JANEIRO: Next stop for controversial veteran Nicolas Anelka will be Atletico Mineiro in Brazil alongside Ronaldinho writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Alexandre Kalil, president of the South American champions from Belo Horizonte, has claimed the signing of the 35-year-old in a message via Twitter.

Earlier Kalil had suggested Anelka’s wage demands might be beyond the club’s resources.

Anelka parted company from Premier League West Bromwich Albion last month after the storm over his quenelle gesture during a goal celebration against West Ham in December.

The gesture was widely considered to be anti-Semitic and Anelka was banned for five matches by the Football Association. Subsequently he quit West Brom while the club, simultaneously, was terminating his contract.

Earlier this week he was reported in France as saying: “I am not specifically looking for a club but I am receiving offers and the least I can do is check them.

“I haven’t decided anything yet. My contract with WBA officially ended on 29 March and bar a miracle, there won’t be any new challenge before the next season starts, be it in Europe or in a exotic country.

“I want to play football like when I was young, connect myself again with the love for the game of my debut.”

Anelka’s career has taken him from Paris Saint-Germain to Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Juventus. Nicknamed ‘The Incredible Sulk,’ he was at the centre of the row with derailed France’s World Cup campaign in South Africa in 2010.

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