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Like his older brother, Kalou began his career in local club Mimosas before playing his trade in Europe. Auxerre coach Guy Roux wanted to sign him to unite him with his brother, former Feyenoord player, Bonaventure Kalou. However, Kalou signed for Excelsior Rotterdam, Feyenoord Rotterdam's "satellite club".
Kalou scored 15 goals in 11 appearances for Excelsior in 2002–2003. He was 'promoted' to Feyenoord and played in the Dutch top flight for three seasons from 2003 to 2006. During his time at Feyenoord, Salomon scored 35 goals in 67 league appearances for the Rotterdam club, and also won an individual award when he won the Johan Cruijff Award in 2005 for being the most promising young talent of that season.
Kalou received much media attention regarding his possible naturalization as a Dutch citizen which, if granted, would allow him to play for the Netherlands national football team. Having never played for the Côte d'Ivoire team, he would be eligible for the Dutch team if he was naturalized. His brother Bonaventure had advised him to pursue foreign citizenship after experiencing regular problems with the Côte d'Ivoire football authorities.
The Dutch national team head coach, Marco van Basten, regarded Kalou as a great talent, so an official application was quickly made. However the Minister of Immigration Rita Verdonk was opposed to considering Kalou for an accelerated naturalization process.
Van Basten, keen to show Kalou's worth to the Dutch team, obtained support from influential football figures, including Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. Despite general agreement among football pundits that Kalou would be valuable for the Dutch team, Verdonk rejected a request for reconsideration. Later Cruyff commented that the Dutch national team might have been more successful had Kalou obtained Dutch citizenship.
Kalou appealed the decision and took the matter to a court of law, gaining a victory on December 9, 2005 when the judge ordered Verdonk to reconsider whether or not Kalou could be considered for accelerated naturalization. Verdonk has decided to appeal, placing the matter before the Council of State. Kalou has since then publicly stated he has given up hope of ever attaining the Dutch nationality.
The process of Kalou's naturalization became the theme of a short-lived television commercial for Centraal Beheer. In the commercial of April 2006, a character representing Kalou is depicted as becoming a naturalized citizen, not of the Netherlands, but of Germany.
This was a reference to Angolan-born forward Nando Rafael, now of Aarhus GF, who, after failing to acquire Dutch citizenship while at Ajax, moved to German Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin, became a German citizen, and represented Germany at Under-21 level.
Kalou was not amused with this commercial, and with copyright law at his hands, the commercial was removed from Dutch television within a week.
Kalou moved to Chelsea on May 30, 2006, for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in excess of £9,000,000. Under contract with Chelsea until 2009, Kalou was handed the number 21 jersey.
Former Chelsea manager José Mourinho praised the young Ivorian as being hardworking, versatile, eager to improve, and unafraid of the physical side of the game. Kalou admitted that he brought a camera with him to his first training session at Chelsea's training centre at Cobham 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."
According to Soccernet, Kalou revealed that he idolizes French forward and Arsenal record goalscorer Thierry Henry, of Barcelona, and tries to imitate Henry's moves in his free time. His admiration of Henry was a factor in his decision to play in the Premier League, as it was the league where Henry became a superstar.
At Chelsea, Kalou plays with compatriot, Côte d'Ivoire 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. Kalou scored his first senior goal for Chelsea in a two-goal win over Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the Carling Cup.
Kalou scored his first Premiership goal in December 2006 in Chelsea's 3–2 victory over Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium. He scored his second Premiership goal against Blackburn in Chelsea's 3–0 win. He also scored a 93rd minute goal against Watford, putting Chelsea 1–0 up. He also 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 also came on as a substitute in the 2007 FA Cup Final win over Manchester United for his second trophy in England, having earlier come on as a substitute for Chelsea in the 2007
Kalou continued his good form into the following season, scoring his first goal of the campaign against Manchester City in Chelsea's 6–0 at Stamford Bridge and the opening goal against Derby County in a 2–0 win. Salomon Kalou amassed the record number of offsides in a season with 107 in 30 games; betraying his lack of ability in reading the game.
The 2007–2008 Carling Cup quarter final saw Kalou take up the right wing position of two wing players (the other being Scott Sinclair) of a 4–3–2–1 formation. Kalou made lots of chances for himself and his team-mates; including a very precise left-footed cross, resulting in a Shevchenko headed goal. He thereafter scored goals against Newcastle United and Fulham contributing to Chelsea's success. He scored goals against West Ham United, Olympiacos and Derby County. His last minute cross into the penalty area led to John Arne Riise scoring the own goal in the UEFA Champion's League Semi-final first leg at Anfield, which gave Chelsea a vital away goal. Kalou also scored with Chelsea's sixth penalty in the Champion's League Final in Moscow, where Chelsea lost.
He did not feature much under Avram Grant's successor, Luiz Felipe Scolari except for in pre-season, because of his participation in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as part of the Ivory Coast U-23 team. However he came on off the bench against Manchester United on the 21st September and scored a header after 80 minutes from a John Obi Mikel free kick. The goal ensured that Chelsea secured a point and kept their unbeaten home record. Kalou then scored two goals and assisted a Frank Lampard header on 18 October in Chelsea's 5–0 win at Middlesbrough. He again scored two goals against Middlesbrough, this time at Stamford Bridge on January 28 2008 in Chelsea's 2–0 win and was a favourite under interim manager Guus Hiddink. On the 25th of April 2009, he scored the winner against West Ham United.
Kalou and Chelsea began the season in winning form; beating Manchester United to lift the 2009 FA Community Shield, with Kalou scoring the winning penalty to celebrate his birthday during the same week. Kalou scored his first goal of the 2009/10 season against Queens Park Rangers at Stamford Bridge in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup, earning his team a deserved 1–0 victory.[4] On October 12, 2009, Kalou signed a new 3 year contract extension with Chelsea, keeping him at Stamford Bridge until the summer of 2012. He celebrated his new contract with an excellent brace against Club Atlético de Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, helping Chelsea maintain their 100% record in the competition. Kalou continued his good form scoring a header in the 4–0 win against Bolton the Carling Cup. He also netted in the Blues' Carling Cup loss to Blackburn Rovers, but it was to be his last goal for two months until he broke the duck against Cardiff City in the FA Cup on 13 February. During those two months without scoring, Kalou struggled for game-time and the goal against the Bluebirds was one he really needed. On 24 February, he scored a good goal against Internazionale in the UEFA Champions League second round first leg. His shot from outside the box was tame but an error from Inter 'keeper Julio Cesar allowed the ball to find the back of the net. Chelsea however lost the leg 2–1, but Kalou's goal was important as it was a much needed away goal for Chelsea. He finally netted a goal in the Premier League on 27 March in Chelsea's astounding 7–1 win over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.In Chelsea's 7–0 win over Stoke City on 25 April, Kalou netted a hat trick, though his second goal of the day has been the source of controversy, as it was very close to being a two-footed tackle.
Kalou has five brothers and eight sisters from the same mother. His brother, Bonaventure Kalou, also plays professional football, and is currently on the Dutch team Heerenveen. Salomon joined Feyenoord during the time his brother Bonaventure was playing for the club from Rotterdam.
At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands and Côte d'Ivoire were allocated to the same group in the first round. If Kalou had become a Dutch citizen and was selected for the Netherlands, he could have played against his native country and possibly against his own brother. Kalou's failure to acquire Dutch citizenship was a factor in his decision to leave Feyenoord for Chelsea.
He has been named in the Côte d'Ivoire national squad on a number of occasions, However he rejected all call ups until February 6, 2007 when he finally made his Côte d'Ivoire debut in the friendly against Guinea, where the Elephants ran out 1–0 winners. He also featured in the Elephant's African Cup of Nations and scored a terrific goal to stun co-favourites Nigeria in the opening game.
After failing to obtain his Dutch passport, Kalou decided to play for the Côte d'Ivoire. His first international goal was scored on March 21, 2007 in a friendly against Mauritius. He played at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations with the team, scoring 3 goals in the process, and reached 4th place after losing to Ghana in the 3rd place play off.
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