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"Liverpool enter transfer chase for Kalou" blares the EXCLUSIVE headline on talkSPORT - a player who has faced them 16 times without a single goal! It's that most devilish of all transfer sources, the Anonymous Magic Source who has whispered as much into the ears of the radio station that is a bastion of non-sensationalism and bland opinions certainly not designed to stir up conversation.
That being said, Salomon Kalou (although just 26) is now in his 6th season at Chelsea. It does seem like he's been here forever though...and we've been waiting for him to become truly world class for about the same length of time as well. Alas, we can probably rule out that possibility at this point and if a club is willing to offer us a decent fee (Kalou was a €4m signing from Feyenoord), it would not be surprising to see him leave.
Make no mistake, writing that last sentence out took much effort on my part. As a card-carrying member of the Cult of Kalou, the last thing I want to see is Chelsea parting ways with the Ivorian...but the reality of the situation is that he has always been and likely always will be, at best, 3rd choice. It's fair to say that he has fallen to about 6th choice this season (and that's not counting Nicolas Anelka who is now swimming in his piles of Chinese money, Scrooge McDuck-style), not doing himself any favors with extremely poor performances when he deputized for Daniel Sturridge to begin the season and sealing his fate with that infamous hand ball at Valencia.
While he has scored a fair few goals for us over the years (57 as of last count), the perception has always been that they were not the crucial ones that won games (except for that lovely offside one v. Spurs last spring). His propensity for head-down dribbling, silly turnovers, and questionable decisions on the ball have left many fuming as well.
Liverpool are now the third team to be linked with Salomon, joining the likes of Arsenal (Wenger hasn't signed a French-speaking player in like a week after all!) and Paris Saint-Germain (Kalou did have his best ever Chelsea season under Ancelotti last year, and the setup there includes other ex-Chelsea men in Claude Makelele and Paul Clement).