Top Facts about Salomon Kalou, Brilliant Footballer from Ivory Coast

 Now, let's have a look at the interesting top facts about Salomon Kalou.

Salomon Kalou played for Feyenoord from 2003 to 2006 and Chelsea from 2006 to 2012. While he played at

, he won numerous titles, including the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, four FA Cups and the League Cup. He moved to Lille on a free transfer in July 2012, where he spent two seasons and then he joined Hertha BSC.

Top Facts about Salomon Kalou you need to know

One of the

top facts about Salomon Kalou

is that he started playing for 

in 2007. Kalou played 93 international matches and represented his country at two FIFA World Cups, six Africa Cup of Nations competition and the 2008 Olympics.

Salomon Kalou at a glance

• Name in home country

  : Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou

• Date of birth

  : 5 Augest 1985

• Place of birth

  : Oume, Ivory Coast

• Age

  : 35

• Height

  : 1,84 m

• Citizenship

  : Ivory Coast

• Position

  : Attacker - Left Winger

• Foot

  : Right

• Player agent

  : Juzzt Football

• Current club:

  Currently Without Club

• Without club since

  : 8 April 2021

• Outfitter

  : Adidas

Social-Media

:

,

Salomon Kalou childhood

One of the

top facts about Salomon Kalou

is that his full name is Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou. He was born on the 5 August 1985 in Oume, Ivory Coast.

Salomon Kalou followed his older brother’s footpaths. Like Bonaventure Kalou his elder brother, Kalou started his career in local club Mimosas before plying in European clubs.

Salomon Kalou professional club career

One of the

top facts about Salomon Kalou

was that he is a major recipient of the post-2002 World Cup popular football development programme in Ivory Coast which saw many youth football players going to Europe.

Among all of the the top facts about Salomon Kalou, another fact is that he began his career in local club Mimosas before moving to Europe. Then he signed for 

 in 2003 and in 2004, he was loaned to Feyenoord's "satellite club", 

.

Salomon Kalou then returned to Feyenoord and played in the Eredivisie for two seasons from 2004 to 2006. During his time with the Rotterdam-based club, he netted 35 goals in 67 league matches, also winning the Johan Cruijff Award in 2005 as the most gifted young talent of the season.

Salomon Kalou, together with Dirk Kuyt, were warmly known as "K2" by Feyenoord fans and the Dutch media, a play on the words of K3, which was a Belgian pop band. Salomon Kalou was linked to several other clubs, including Auxerre, the French team his brother played for.

Chelsea

One of the facts about Salomon Kalou is that he joined Chelsea on 30 May 2006 for a fee believed to be about £9 million.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho commended the young Ivorian as being meticulous, flexible, keen to improve and unafraid of the physical side of the game.

In 2007-08 season, Salomon Kalou sustained his good form into the next season, netting his first goal of the competition against 

 in Chelsea's 6–0 win at Stamford Bridge and the opening goal against Derby County in a 2–0 victory.

At the European level, Salomon Kalou last minute cross into the penalty area led to John Arne Riise netting the own goal in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg at Anfield against

, which gave Chelsea an important away goal over Liverpool. Kalou also netted with Chelsea's sixth penalty in the UEFA Champions League final in Moscow, where Chelsea lost to Manchester United.

During 2008-09 season, Salomon Kalou did not feature much under his manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, except during pre-season, Salomon Kalou participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as part of the Ivory Coast national under-23 football team. Though, he went onto the pitch against Manchester United on 21 September and netted a header after 80 minutes from a John Obi Mikel free kick. The goal ensured that Chelsea secured a point and kept their undefeated home record.

On 25 April 2009, he scored the winner against London rivals West Ham. Kalou was an unused substitute in Chelsea's 2–1 defeat of Everton as the Blues won the FA Cup on 30 May.

At the first days of the 2009-10 season, Chelsea beat Manchester United to win the 2009 FA Community Shield, with Salomon Kalou netting the winning penalty.

Salomon Kalou celebrated his new contract with a double against 

 in the UEFA Champions League, helping Chelsea keep their perfect record in the tournament.

On 24 February 2010, Salomon Kalou scored a goal against Internazionale in the Champions League round of 1/8 first leg. His shot from outside the box was not difficult tosave but an error from Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar allowed the ball to find the back of the net in a 2–1 loss.  

One of the facts about Salomon Kalou is that he scored Chelsea's third of eight goals on the last match day of the season against Wigan, as the Blues were crowned champions of the Premier League.

Salomon Kalou started the 2010-11 season in a good form with scoring the only goal in the 3–1 defeat at Wembley Stadium against

.

Through 31 matches, Salomon Kalou had scored 14 goals in all tournaments. Despite his good form, nevertheless, he found it hard to gain a fixed first team place since the addition of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January. 

Salomon Kalou netted ten Premier League goals on the year, the first time he has hit double digit league goals for Chelsea.

Kalou started the 2001-12 season with Chelsea playing in the club's second league game, against West Brom; he was substituted off, however, after only 34 minutes.

After the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo as a short-term manager, Salomon Kalou fought his way back into the first-team squad; under André Villas-Boas, he was frozen out, only making four starts in over seven months.

Salomon Kalou started both the 2012 FA Cup Final and UEFA Champions League final, both of which were Chelsea victories.

On 1 July 2012, Chelsea publicly announced that Salomon Kalou's contract had come to an end after he had spent six years at the London team. Salomon Kalou had made 254 appearances for the Chelsea, including 147 starts, and netted 60 goals. After his release, Kalou was linked with several clubs across Europe.

Lille

Another top fact about Salomon Kalou is that on 7 July 2012, it was confirmed that he would sign for 

 on a free transfer after being released by Chelsea at the end of his contract. He was given the number 8 jersey. New manager Rudi Garcia was satisfied to see Salomon Kalou join Lille.

Salomon Kalou’s first UEFA Champions League goal for the team was scored in their 6–1 defeat to 

 on 7 November 2012.

One of the top facts about Salomon Kalou is that in 2013–14 season, he played all of Lille's matches, starting all but two. Salomon Kalou netted 16 goals, making him one of five runners-up to Zlatan Ibrahimovic for top scorer.

Hertha BSC

One of the top facts about Salomon Kalou is that he went to Germany after playing football in the Netherlands, England and France.

On 31 August 2014, Salomon Kalou joined Bundesliga team Hertha BSC on a three-year agreement. The transfer fee paid to Lille was said to be as €3 million.

In his first full season at Hertha BSC, he played 27 matches in the league; scoring six goals and assisting Hertha avoid relegation to Bundesliga 2.

At the beginning of the 2015–16 Bundesliga season, Salomon Kalou changed number 11 for the vacant 8 shirt after the departure of Marcel Ndjeng to SC Paderborn. This was the same number he wore during his spell at Lille as well as with the Ivorian national team.

On 15 March 2017, Salomon Kalou signed a contract extension at Hertha BSC, keeping him at the Olympiastadion until 2019. Salomon Kalou said, "I'm really happy in Berlin and still have a lot to achieve with Hertha BSC. I want to help build on the progress the team has made in recent years."

On 4 May 2020, he streamed live from the Hertha BSC cabin via Facebook. Salomon Kalou greeted all of the players and coaches, who were not aware of the live stream, with a handshake, ignored social distancing rules and filmed a conversation about the Hertha BSC professionals' salary cuts. After what he did, Salomon Kalou was released from training and playing duties.

Botafogo

On 9 July 2020, Salomon Kalou moved to Botafogo in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A on an 18-month contract.

International career

One of the top facts about Salomon Kalou is that he failed to acquire Dutch citizenship and it was a motivation in his decision to leave Feyenoord for Chelsea. He was called up for the Ivory Coast national team several times in 2006 but rejected them all. 

Salomon Kalou’s debut game in a 1–0 friendly win over Guinea on 6 February 2007, and on 21 March he netted his first goal in a 3–0 friendly win against Mauritius.

Salomon Kalou was also called up for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. He netted the only goal against Nigeria in the first match of the tournament, and added two more in a 5–0 victory over Guinea in the quarter-finals as Ivory Coast came fourth.

At the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, Salomon Kalou netted the opening goal of a 3–2 extra-time elimination by Algeria in the semi-finals.

Salomon Kalou also played at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Later that year, he scored goals in each leg of a 4–2 victory over Senegal in the play-offs for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Salomon Kalou Personal life

Salomon Kalou has two brothers and eight sisters from the same mother. Bonaventure Kalou, his brother, also played professional football. Salomon Kalou joined Feyenoord during the time his brother Bonaventure was playing for the team.

In 2010, Salomon Kalou founded The Kalou Foundation, dedicated to providing services for social welfare and recreation of those who have need of such facilities by reason of youth, age, illness or disability, economic need or social conditions and also for the relief of illness worldwide.

Salomon Kalou is currently in relationship with Karina Ferreira Flores and according to their social media photos they have a child.

Karina Ferreira Flores is a Brazilian model. She has a twin sister who is a model as well.

Salomon Kalou Failure to acquire Dutch citizenship

One of the facts about Salomon Kalou is that when he played for Feyenoord, he sought fast-track naturalisation to become a Dutch citizen and play for the Netherlands national football team.

It is worth mentioning that his application was supported by national team coach Marco van Basten, and Dutch football icon Johan Cruyff. The process drew attention as the Dutch were to play the Ivory Coast at the 2006 FIFA World Cup group stage, and he would likely play against his older brother.

Salomon Kalou’s application was rejected in August 2005 by Minister of Immigration Rita Verdonk, who believed that he would soon move to a greater foreign team.

During the application process, Dutch insurance company Centraal Beheer made a television advertisement in which Salomon Kalou plays for the Netherlands' rivals Germany against them. Salomon Kalou took legal action for use of his image and name in the advertisement.

Salomon Kalou best friend

In spite of the fact that Salomon Kalou looked up to Didier Drogba, his best friend at Chelsea was

.

Salomon Kalou explained, “The other people in the squad call us husband and wife because we are always picking on each other. It’s always in a fun way. We can go far sometimes but it never gets ugly. It’s something everyone knows and that’s why they call us husband and wife. But Mikel is the wife definitely because of the way he dresses! I call him Tracy Chapman [after the singer] because of his haircut and the fact that he looks like her. It’s a good nickname for him. He’s tried to find one as good for me and hasn’t been able to.”

Salomon Kalou buying a camera

One of the facts about Salomon Kalou is that he acknowledged that he brought a camera with him to his first training session at Chelsea's training centre at Cobham. The reason was due to the fact that he could not believe that he was going to be rubbing shoulders with famous football players like Michael Ballack, John Terry and his compatriot 

. Telling the experience, Salomon Kalou said "This was the dream moment of my life and I did not want to wake up and find that it was not real."

Salomon Kalou trophies

Chelsea

• Premier League in 2009–10

• FA Cup in 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12

• Football League Cup in 2006–07

• FA Community Shield in 2009

• UEFA Champions League in 2011–12

Ivory Coast

• Africa Cup of Nations in 2015

Individual

Dutch Football Talent of the Year in 2005

CAF Young Player of the Year in 2008

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