Kalou, Salomon

Salomon Kalou

Written by Kalou in June 2007.

Salomon Kalou was born August 5, 1985 in Oumé, Ivory Coast. He grew up on the street of Oumé playing football with his brother Bonaventure Kalou who is also a footballer currently applying his trade at French Club Paris Saint-Germain.

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He, like almost all professional Ivorian Footballers, came through the ranks at ASEC Mimosas before signing a professional deal and moving to Feyenoord in Holland.

While he was there he was sent out on loan to Dutch feeder team Excelsior were he scored 4 goals in 11 games, all coming from the left-hand side.

On his return to Feyenoord he became a first team regular and in his three seasons there he made 67 appearances, scored an impressive 35 goals and won the 2005 Johan Cruyff Award for best young talent playing in Holland.

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Salomon moved to Chelsea on May 30, 2006, for an undisclosed fee, thought to be between £8 and £10 million pounds. Under contract with Chelsea until 2009, Kalou was handed the number 21 jersey, which had been left vacant since the 2003-2004 season when it was worn by Hernan Crespo.

Chelsea manager José Mourinho has spoken highly of Kalou, praising the young Ivorian as being hardworking, versatile, eager to improve, and unafraid of the physical side of the game. Kalou himself admitted while he still gets 'overwhelmed' at the prospect of training with such luminaries of world football as Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, he is determined to learn as much as he can and improve his game.

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At Chelsea, Kalou plays with compatriot, Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba. Kalou scored his first goals for Chelsea in a reserve game against Portsmouth bagging a hat trick and the match ball in a 5-0 thrashing. Scott Sinclair scored the other two goals in the game. Kalou scored his first senior goal for Chelsea in a 2 goal win over Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the Carling Cup.

Kalou scored his first Premiership goal on December 23rd 2006 in Chelsea's 3-2 victory over Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium and followed this with his second Premiership goal against Blackburn in Chelsea's 3-0 win on January 31st. On March 31st he also scored a 93rd minute winner against Watford, a goal which, at the time, kept Chelsea's title hunt alive.

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In addition he scored a volleyed goal from 12 yards against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup Quarter-Final, which ended 3-3. Chelsea won the replay 1-2, before progressing to the final with a similar scoreline against Blackburn Rovers. Kalou came off the bench in Chelsea's 2007 FA Cup final victory over Manchester United.