First off, Dennis Bergkamp is quoted on the Official Liverpool site, saying "I do not know what sort of reaction Anelka will get. Everyone has his own thoughts on the matter and there is nothing you can do to change that. But he has done well for Arsenal and if people look at that, he should get a good reception."

The quotes are said to come from his official pages at icons.com but I don't find them there yet (Dennis promises comments on Anelka in his next diary).

Also supposedly from icons.com, but (apparently) not on their site yet, is this from Gilles Grimandi: "I'll be very pleased to see Nicolas because I'm sure he's a good young man, whatever is written about him. I remember him as a very shy person, but not a bad person at all. I also recall him as a very successful player for Arsenal. He scored key goals in the league and cup when we won the Double in 1998, so he's a huge part of the history of this club. He was young when he left the club and I know the circumstances were a bit controversial. I feel sad that it ended in such a way as a happier ending would have befitted his contributions to this club far better. He made his decision then to leave and I'm not sure it was the right decision. But he took it and it must be respected. Now he's back in the Premiership and I hope he has success because he's a good person. " (see DailSoccer for more).

Finally, for now, comes Patrick Vieira. "I hope it won't be too hard for him on Sunday. He did a lot for this club, especially in the year we won the Double. Up front, he and Dennis Bergkamp were fantastic. He also had the big responsibility of taking over from Ian Wright. People who don't know him have the wrong image of him. He is a lovely guy off the pitch and a tremendous player on it. Being at Liverpool will suit him. He will enjoy it and it is important for him to do well because he wants to get a place in the squad that goes to the World Cup finals. Maybe he made the wrong decision when he left Arsenal but he was doing what he wanted to do. He made his own decisions and you have to respect that."

So, will the Highbury faithful go easy on him or will they give him a torrid time? Your guess is as good as mine (it's probably the same as mine).

While we're happy to accept that Nic was young, he made a mistake, and he's not an evil person for wanting to leave Arsenal... this is football. Players who leave a club under a cloud do not simply come back to be welcomed with open arms. But the Arsenal players shouldn't get too worried.

There isn't anything like the resentment towards Anelka that Tottenham fans feel towards Sol Campbell. Let's face it: We made a heap of money out of him, he helped win us the double, and we've ended up with the vastly superior Thierry Henry.

So it won't be anything like Sol's disgraceful reception at Tottenham earlier this season. We hope for his sake that Nic is still as thick skinned as ever, but we'll be teasing him for fun not from hatred.

One other point to make: I'm a little disturbed by the way both the French Gunners quoted above say that "he made his decision and that has to be respected". Errr.... why? Are they suggesting that any honestly taken decision should be respected? Dodgy moral ground here, mes amis! Or is there something missing in the translation?

Echoing his compatriot's comments, Nic himself admits that the decision to leave may not have been the right one. Also he has also said that he regrets nothing (see this article for this and more interesting comment on Anelka).

I'd been wondering what the English players would have to say about Anelka, so Arseweb's thanks go to Peter Krige for sending Ray Parlour's column from this week's Islington Gazette.

Ray says that Anelka received bad advice when at Arsenal and that his transfers have continued to be handled poorly. But he stops short of giving the kind of support that the 3 players mentioned above do, saying only that Anelka "did well for us on the pitch", and not commenting at all on his likely reception by the Arsenal faithful. See also Oooh Arrr Ray Parlour for more words of wisdom.