Former Chelsea star winger Salomon Kalou has revealed how deeply he misses the life of a professional footballer and how he can’t wait to relive his dream to play at Stamford Bridge again.

Kalou, who won the Champions League and the Double during six stand-out years at Chelsea, returns to The Bridge this weekend to play in the Chelsea Legends charity match.

He will head to Chelsea’s training ground today at Cobham, Surrey, for a session to prepare to tackle old adversaries Liverpool to raise money for the Chelsea Foundation and the Chelsea Players’ Trust.

Kalou, who is from Ivory Coast, will gather in Cobham with a stellar line up of other former players, including John Terry, Marcel Desailley, Gianfranco Zola, Joe Cole, Diego Costa, John Obi Mikel, Claude Makelele and Eden Hazard. Roberto di Mateo will manage the team.

Kalou, now aged 40 and retired from football, sat down to talk to The Chelsea Citizen ahead of the big match. He was in London earlier in the week to launch Oumé, a new chocolate and lifestyle brand named after his home town in Africa. He said:

‘I am so excited to be going back to Chelsea and to play at The Bridge again. My time at Chelsea was very special to me. It is the place that made me a man.

‘I don’t actually miss playing football because I can still play with my friends in the park, but I really miss everything to do with the game – being with the players, the dressing room, the fans, travelling, team meetings. I miss all of that.  Playing in the Legends match means that I get to re-live those times again.

‘I am really looking forward to the coach journey from The Chelsea Harbour hotel. I know every inch of the place because I stayed there so much. The journey is only 10 minutes to the ground, but I remember going from there to play in big games and it felt like 10 hours. The tension on the bus was so much that you could hear a pin drop. You see the fans and hear them cheering, then you see the stadium. It is a very special  journey to make.’

Kalou says that he is still fit enough to play, but admits that he has lost some of the speed that made him a lethal winger. ‘I am not as fast as I used to be –  but I am still faster than John Obi Mikel!’ he joked.

He is also certain of a Chelsea victory against their old rivals Liverpool. ‘We always beat Liverpool! This is a charity match, but it is still important to win. I predict that we will win – and that John Obi will score his first goal for Chelsea!’

 

The full interview with Salomon Kalou talking about all things Chelsea and his dreams for his Oumé brand will be posted in Citizen Fame next week. It will also be broadcast in its entirety as a podcast soon.

Keep an eye on the website and on our Instagram feed.

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