When Arnaud Kalimuendo’s name first appeared as a rumor at Eintracht, Hugo Ekitike was not yet a Frankfurter and Omar Marmoush was an emergency solution in the storm. A portrait of the attacker.
November 17, 2019, Gama in Brazil, U17 World Cup, game for third place, Netherlands against France, a moment for eternity. At least for Arnaud Kalimuendo. Not only did the then 16-year-old score all three goals in the 3-1 win for the Équipe Tricolore, he also experienced his very personal, unforgettable highlight shortly afterwards at the award ceremony.
There he suddenly stood, the living legend, R9, the Brazilian Ronaldo, and slipped the medal on him. “It was incredible,” Kalimuendo recalled in an interview a few years later. He once watched the highlight videos of the former world champion up and down. And then Ronaldo whistled in the little, shy Arnaud’s ear: “Keep it up!” These words, says Kalimuendo, “I will never forget.”
A long-term deal
Today, almost six years later, the attacker has already experienced a bit in professional football. He developed his footballing skills at Paris Saint-Germain, was loaned to Lens, sold to Rennes (for 20 million euros), took off there, flopped at Nottingham Forest – and has now arrived at Eintracht Frankfurt for the time being. In any case, a lot of things, almost everything, point to that. Kalimuendo was still in the Premier League club’s squad from Nottingham on Tuesday, but didn’t play a minute in the 2-1 win at West Ham United. This Wednesday he is scheduled to fly to Frankfurt to complete his medical check with Eintracht.
If nothing more surprising goes wrong, the soon-to-be 24-year-old will initially join Eintracht on a six-month loan basis with a loan fee of 1.5 million euros to Nottingham. In the summer, the Hessians should also have a purchase option worth around 25 million euros. It’s a deal with a start – in both senses.
In discussion with the SGE since 2024
On the one hand, the negotiations have recently been delayed a little, as Nottingham is deep in the relegation battle and also has a shortage of strikers. Kalimuendo, who was only second choice for the English team despite his summer commitment worth 30 million euros, had to wait a little longer before he could move to the Main. But these few days are nothing compared to the past few years. The name of the 1.75 meter tall and seemingly just as wide attacker appeared in the Eintracht cosmos for the first time in January 2024. He or Hugo Ekitiké was the name back then – the result was impressive.
Eintracht sports director Markus Krösche knows the strengths and weaknesses of Kalimuendo, and of course Arnaud as a person, through years of courtship. The contact with the player and his advisory agency, which is incidentally the same as that of Arthur Theate and Elye Wahi was never completely demolished. This persuasion, which is characterized by great trust in the player, is of course a decisive reason why Kalimuendo is now joining the Frankfurt team at the umpteenth attempt.
“He is the first defender”
At the age of 17, Kalimuendo became a professional at Paris Saint-Germain, for whom he had been playing since he was ten. However, he was never able to assert himself in the French capital, on the outskirts of which he grew up. Five short missions and a few training sessions with Lionel Messi – there was nothing more. “He is very well trained as a PSG academy player, but he hasn’t played much with the professionals. It was like players like Christopher Nkunku or Moussa Diaby: He needed playing time,” French sports journalist Ali Farhat told hr-sport two years ago.
In Lens and Rennes, where he made his final breakthrough last season, Kalimuendo later managed an impressive 53 goals and 18 assists in 156 games. On the island, however, he only managed two goals in the Europa League. “He is the first defender, can press and works a lot without the ball,” said journalist Farhat, explaining the advantages that Dino Toppmöller in particular will like. The Eintracht coach likes hard-working strikers.
Strong especially in a double storm
Kalimuendo was not always an ice-cold enforcer in his young career; he can even be described as harmless, especially when it comes to headers. But his conclusion is well-mannered. He likes to come over to the left, then start deep and, with his low center of gravity, is difficult for opponents to grab.
Long-time observer Farhat sees Kalimuendo’s strengths coming into play best in a double attack, where he can always move to the sides and create space for his teammates. With the still injured Jonathan Burkardt, Younes Ebnoutalib and Kalimuendo, the Hessians will soon have at least a wide selection to operate with two leaders in the future.
Upon his arrival in Nottingham, Kalimuendo was asked by the club’s own media what fans could expect from him. His answer: “I was hired to score goals.” The words were hardly followed by actions, the first half of the year was disappointing – that should now change in Frankfurt.
