Wiki presents the Full Story of a Chelsea FC Legend best known by the Nickname; “Kalhuno”.
Our Salomon Kalou Childhood Story plus Untold Biography Facts brings to you a full account of notable events from his childhood time to date.
The analysis involves his life story before fame, family life and many off-pitch facts about him.
Yes, everyone knows about his time at Chelsea FC but few consider Salomon Kalou’s Biography, which is quite interesting. Now without further ado, let’s Begin.
Salomon Kalou Childhood Story – Early Life and Family Background:
For Biography starters, Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou was born on the 5 August 1985 in Oumé, Ivory Coast by parents Mr and Mrs Armand Magloire Kalou.
Kalou was a major beneficiary of the post-2002 World Cup grassroots football development programme in Côte d’Ivoire, which saw many youth footballers plying to Europe.
Salomon Kalou followed in his older brother’s footsteps. Like Bonaventure Kalou, his elder brother, Kalou began his career in the local club Mimosas, before plying his trade in Europe.
Auxerre coach Guy Roux wanted to sign him to unite him with his brother at the club, but Kalou opted to sign for Feyenoord instead in 2003.
After returning from a short loan spell at Excelsior, Kalou played in the Dutch top-flight Eredivisie for two seasons from 2004 to 2006, scoring 35 goals in 67 league appearances, also winning the Johan Cruijff Award in 2005. This led to a call from Chelsea FC.
The rest, as they say, is now history.
Who is Najah Wakil? Salomon Kalou’s Wife:
Regarding his Love Life, Kalou is known to have dated the American model, Najah Wakil.
Their relationship started immediately after Salomon Kalou was dumped by Susan Gossage, a British and Zambian model.
A story has emerged that his ex-girlfriend has lifted a curse that she placed on the striker when they broke up!
Christelle Gnahoua told Selec Magazine that she’d turned the other cheek since becoming a Christian despite Kalou treating her cruelly.
Explaining how the curse came to be, she said:
“They made me say that at the time he was engaged, and he would not taint the relationship which would then lead to a wedding planned in 2010. Frankly, Solomon did not have to humiliate me in that way.
I was very ill, and I had even cursed him repeatedly. I did not even want him to score a goal. But today, I am a Christian so I have forgiven him”
Kalou, before being forgiven, was struggling at Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. He started scoring regularly after the weight was off his shoulders.
Salomon Kalou Untold Biography Facts – Once shared the same Nickname:
Kalou once shared a nickname with Dirk Kuyt. Whilst at Feyenoord, Kalou played as a striker alongside Dirk Kuyt.
Because of their goalscoring prowess, they were loved by the Feyenoord fans, and both were nicknamed ‘K2’ by the Dutch media.
It was a play on words of the popular Dutch band ‘K3’.
Salomon Kalou Untold Biography Facts – Dutch Citizenship:
Once upon a time, former Netherlands manager, Marco van Basten, encouraged Kalou to apply for Dutch citizenship.
He had never played for Cote d’Ivoire and had already experienced problems with their football authorities.
Van Basten believed Kalou could make a difference to the national squad and was eager for the citizenship application to be made and accepted.
Kalou’s application was even backed by Dutch legend Johan Cruyff.
Nonetheless, it was refused, and after a lengthy court case, Kalou gave up all hope of playing for the Netherlands. He has since played 51 games for Côte d’Ivoire.
Salomon Kalou Family Facts:
As stated earlier, Kalou has a brother who also plays professional football. Bonaventure Kalou never reached the dizzy heights of the Premier League but played most of his football in France and the Netherlands.
However, he did win the Europa League (UEFA Cup at the time) with Feyenoord in 2002 and had some French and Dutch domestic trophies to his name too.
At the age of 34, he retired from professional football. At the time of writing, Bona now plays for an amateur French club, Combs-la-Ville.
Salomon Kalou Untold Facts – His Cat:
In 2011, sportswriter Brooks Peck reported that Kalou owns a pet cat called ‘Katou’. Didier Drogba supposedly has a cat called ‘Kitier’ too.
A Better Goal Scorer before he went to Chelsea:
Kalou played 82 competitive games during his time at Feyenoord, scoring an impressive 42 goals – a goalscoring average of 0.51 goals per game.
The Ivorian played 251 games for Chelsea but only scored 59 goals – an average of 0.24 goals per game.
Maybe this was because he played a more attacking role at Feyenoord rather than his wider position at Chelsea.
Or it may have been because the Dutch league is not as competitive as the Premier League.
Nevertheless, if Kalou had rediscovered some of that goalscoring form at Chelsea, he may not have been discarded so easily.
His Best Friend:
Despite Kalou looking up to Drogba, the banter that flows between himself and his best friend at the club, John Obi Mikel, is far more jovial.
The duo have been close from day one as fellow African Mikel arrived in the same summer from Lyn Oslo and are separated in age by less than two years.
It has led to some novel observations. 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.”
Buying a Camera:
Kalou once admitted that he brought a camera with him to his first training session at Chelsea’s training centre at Cobham.
This was because he could not believe that he was going to be rubbing shoulders with famous footballers like Michael Ballack, John Terry and Didier Drogba.
Describing the experience, 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.”
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