Nottingham Forest have secured the signature of Arnaud Kalimuendo as they look to improve on an excellent 2024-25 Premier League campaign. Can the French striker help take them to the next level?
After beating Brentford 3-1 to make a great start to the new season, Nottingham Forest gave their supporters more to cheer about earlier this week when they announced the signing of Rennes forward Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Adding to the purchases of Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich Town and James McAtee from Manchester City, the signature of Kalimuendo took their spending to nearly £100 million in a matter of days.
At face value, Kalimuendo brings the prospect of goals, having been the third-highest scorer in France’s Ligue 1 last season with 17 goals despite a tumultuous backdrop at Rennes, on and off the pitch.
But what else will Kalimuendo bring to the City Ground? Can he help elevate them into the Champions League spots after they cruelly missed out in 2024-25?
High Hopes for Kalimuendo
Kalimuendo came through Paris Saint-Germain’s youth academy and was one of their brightest prospects as a teenager. A key part of PSG and France’s youth sides, much was expected of the forward.
With five goals in seven games at the 2019 Under-17 World Cup with France, he finished as second top scorer. It wasn’t just internationally that he impressed either, with his performances in the UEFA Youth League for PSG also highlighting his quality in front of goal.
Across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 editions of the competition, only future PSG striker Gonçalo Ramos (10) and Chelsea’s Charlie Brown (12) scored more than his nine goals in 10 appearances for the French side, which included a hat-trick versus Real Madrid.
The fact he was aged only 16 and 17 across these appearances in what was an under-19 tournament made his goal tally even more eye-catching.
Despite three league appearances for PSG across the opening months of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, he was unable to force his way into their side and was sent out on loan in successive campaigns to fellow Ligue 1 side Lens.
Such was the wealth of attacking talent at PSG, it was hardly surprising that a teenage Kalimuendo failed to progress past Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, Mauro Icardi, Ángel Di María and later, Lionel Messi, into the first team.
Lens went on to give him what PSG couldn’t – an opportunity to play top-flight football. He repaid them with a team-high 19 goals across two seasons in Ligue 1, helping the promoted club to a sensational seventh-place finish in his first season. They replicated their top-seven placing in his second campaign, with Kalimuendo netting 12 times in 2021-22.
His 19 goals across 2020-21 and 2021-22 made him the top-scoring player aged under 21 in the French top-flight over that period, thus attracting Rennes, who had just finished fourth and were looking to challenge for a spot in the UEFA Champions League in 2022-23.
The challenge would ultimately prove unsuccessful, with Rennes once again finishing fourth in Ligue that season. In truth it was also a season of struggle for Kalimuendo.
Just seven goals in 30 league appearances was a disappointing return for a player they’d bought for €20m, with his final 13 matches of 2022-23 yielding just one goal in 736 minutes.
Just more two goals in his first 10 Ligue 1 appearances of 2023-24 followed before Bruno Génésio left the club by mutual consent in mid-November after a terrible start to the season, with Rennes lurking just above the relegation zone.
His replacement Julien Stéphan steadied the ship, eventually leading them to a mid-table finish. He also began to get more out of Kalimuendo, who scored eight goals in his final 16 Ligue 1 appearances under his management in the second half of the campaign.
Unfortunately for Kalimuendo, Stéphan wouldn’t last too long into 2024-25.
Performing Despite a Chaotic Backdrop
After a transitional summer in the Rennes squad, with high-profile outgoings like Martin Terrier, Benjamin Bourigeaud and Désiré Doué being replaced by some players for substantial transfer fees, 2024-25 always had the potential to be chaotic in Rennes.
It proved to be just that, with Stéphan sacked after 10 league games having secured just 11 points and situated only two points above the bottom two.
His replacement, Jorge Sampaoli lasted just 10 games himself – seven of which came in Ligue 1.
While his first league game in the Rennes dugout ended in a 1-0 away defeat at Lille, which was no disgrace, Rennes then enjoyed a fantastic 5-0 home victory over Saint-Étienne in the next, with Kalimuendo scoring his first ever league hat-trick.
Despite another league win over struggling Angers in December, results didn’t improve under Sampaoli, including a shock Coupe de France defeat to Ligue 2 side Troyes, and he only lasted until the end of January before being sacked himself.
While Rennes’ results remained inconsistent for the rest of the 2024-25 season under their third permanent manager of the campaign, Habib Beye, winning eight and losing seven of their 15 games, Kalimuendo bucked the trend.
He scored nine goals in 15 games under the Senegalese coach – only Alexandre Lacazette and Amine Gouiri (both 10) scored more in Ligue 1 from Beye’s first game in charge on 2 February onwards.
Crucially, Kalimuendo was utilised differently under Beye in 2024-25 compared to how Sampaoli and Stéphan used him. The French forward only played 69% of his 1,182 league minutes as a central striker when Beye was his coach, compared to every single minute beforehand in the number nine role.
With eight non-penalty goals under Beye’s management, Kalimuendo averaged a career-best minutes-per-goal ratio of 148 from such shots.
In a 3-0 win over Angers in March – their first game back in action after the March international break – Beye utilised Kalimuendo’s attributes by playing him wider on the right after being impressed with how he played there for France Under-21s.
Kalimuendo responded by being involved in all three of their goals (two goals, one assist).
“Arnaud has real strengths when it comes to evading pressure, especially with his first touch,” explained Beye after the win. “I think those qualities come through more clearly when he plays on the right. He doesn’t lose pace there like he sometimes does on the left.”
First Challenge Outside of France
With his move to Nottingham Forest earlier this week, Kalimuendo’s versatility gives him a good chance of game time in either wide position, or as a viable alternative to Chris Wood in the lone striker role alongside Taiwo Awoniyi and summer signing from Botafogo, Igor Jesus.
Of course, Wood’s exceptional form under Nuno Espírito Santo, which has seen him score 33 goals in 53 Premier League appearances since the coach arrived at Forest, makes him clear first choice at number nine. But they struggled for versatility in that position last season, with Awoniyi scoring just once in 26 league appearances when called upon.
Kalimuendo is a completely different proposition for opposition defenders to both Wood and Awoniyi. At 5-foot-9, he’s not physically dominant, although he is powerful for his size. He’s good at receiving the ball with his back to goal, using his strength and skill to either turn defenders or lay the ball off to a teammate.
Adept with both feet in shooting positions, he scored with some impressive finishes on his ‘weaker’ left foot last season, as well as a couple of headers helping to make up his 17-goal tally.
Of course, with Anthony Elanga joining Newcastle United this summer, there is a chance Kalimuendo could play more of a role on the right side of Forest’s attack – a position fellow new signing Dan Ndoye was deployed in during their Matchday 1 victory over Brentford.
It was during Beye’s reign in Rennes’ final 15 Ligue 1 games of last season that they began to show a faster-paced, direct style that often saw them hit teams in transition.
After Beye’s first game on 2 February, Rennes led Ligue 1 for direct attacks (29) – defined as the number of open-play sequences starting just inside the team’s own half that have at least 50% of movement towards the opposition’s goal and end in a shot or a touch in the opposition’s box – while only three teams attempted more shots from fast breaks than they did (22).
It’s no coincidence that this helped Kalimuendo produce his best form in a Rennes shirt, and a move to Nottingham Forest – one of the best teams in attacking transitions – could prove a clever transfer for both parties.
Forest spent a longer proportion of 2024-25 Premier League games in a phase of progressive play (16.9%), defined as attacking, progressive moments of play that move the ball behind the opposition’s structure.
They also spent the longest amount of time in a counter-attacking phase (1.2%), with their total of 79 counter-attack phases fewer than only Chelsea (97), Bournemouth (95) and Liverpool (93) last season.
Kalimuendo’s pace and acceleration, plus his fantastic first touch, should mean Forest have picked up a player who can thrive in this style. He’s also quick to react to opportunities that come his way, with 10 of his 12 non-penalty goals in Ligue 1 last season coming with a first-time finish (83.3%).
Furthermore, Kalimuendo has proved himself as an incredibly hard-working forward. In Ligue 1 last season, only two players applied more pressures in the attacking half than he did (1,609), while he also ranked third in the French top flight for high pressures in the final third (655).
These are useful attributes when joining a team who averaged the third-lowest possession (40.9%) and saw the joint-highest proportion of high turnovers end in shots (20%) in the 2024-25 Premier League.
One concern could be that he’s not an obviously strong ball carrier. That attribute is important for a side like Nottingham Forest, who look to win the ball deep and attack teams at pace, often covering a lot of ground in a short space of time before getting into positions to shoot.
Kalimuendo averaged 3.9 progressive carries per 90 in Ligue 1 last season, far fewer than Callum Hudson-Odoi (9.2), Elanga (7.4) and Morgan Gibbs-White (6.3), while he had an average less than half that of Hudson-Odoi (5.4) and Elanga (4.4) when looking at progressive carries over 10m in lenght (1.9). Nevertheless, this could be explained by nuances in the teams’ respective playing styles; after all, one positive is that Kalimuendo attempted more shots (23) following carries than any Forest player had in the Premier League last season.
Looking at his chance creation, it’s hard to read too much into his meagre numbers in Ligue 1 last season because Rennes underperformed across the board and Kalimuendo was part of a largely poor side.
Among the top 15 scorers in the French top flight last season (all scoring 10+ goals), Kalimuendo averaged the fewest open-play chances created per 90 (0.7) and the third-lowest expected assists per-90 average (0.07).
With Forest having UEFA Europa League football to contend with alongside the Premier League in 2025-26, a bigger squad is needed to tackle the challenge of an additional eight competitive games before February, not to mention the difficulty of managing Thursday and Sunday games on each of those European matchdays.
Kalimuendo hasn’t joined Forest to just help them manage a season of playing more matches, though. Still only 23 years old, this is a signing that could prove to be an incredibly shrewd piece of business for the Premier League club.
He’s been able to develop as a player in relative mid-table obscurity in France, but now it’s time for him to prove himself on a bigger stage.
Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Why Arnaud Kalimuendo Might Be the Perfect Fit for Nottingham Forest Opta Analyst.
Hence then, the article about why arnaud kalimuendo might be the perfect fit for nottingham forest was published today ( ) and is available on The Analyst ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Why Arnaud Kalimuendo Might Be the Perfect Fit for Nottingham Forest )
Also on site :