Nottingham Forest have moved to sign Arnaud Kalimuendo from Rennes to bolster their attacking ranks.
After thrashing Brentford 3-1 at the City Ground, Forest entered the transfer market to sign Kalimuendo in a deal worth an initial £26 million.
Chris Wood scored twice against the Bees, with the Kiwi picking up where he left off last season when he bagged 20 goals to propel the Reds into Europe.
Better depth has always been required this summer, however, and Kalimuendo finished as the third top goalscorer in Ligue 1 last season.
Kalimuendo is excited to get going at Forest and following his arrival, we were keen to discover exactly what we can expect from the new talisman.
Rennes expert delivers verdict on Arnaud Kalimuendo
Kalimuendo looks like the sort of signing that should excite Forest fans and at 23-years-old, there looks like a lot of potential in the striker.
We confess, we’re not the best placed people to deliver a verdict on Kalimuendo, however, and have instead called upon the help of Rennes supporter, John Gray, who has been a season card holder since 2007.
Here is what he had to say about Forest’s new recruit, Kalimuendo.
NFN: What strengths will Arnaud Kalimuendo bring to Nottingham Forest?
JG: “Arnaud is a player who works tirelessly, making runs, and closing down defenders. He is most effective when he has service, much like most strikers, and is a great poacher of goals. He’s very instinctive.”
NFN: Forest have paid around £26 million before add-ons, will that be value for money?
JG: “Local journalists have differing views on him. Scoring 40 goals in 112 games is not a bad stat, but not what some would consider sufficient for the investment. Context is important, though. Whilst most of his goals came against mid-table or lower-placed sides, it’s fair to say that he was arguably used in a role for most of it, which didn’t suit his style of play.
“He’s not a number 9 in the style of Chris Wood, as he’s not the tallest striker in the world, and a striker thrives on service. If you are the focal point of the attack, and you’re not getting quality of service (poor crosses, too much time before making the cross), it’s difficult to shine as an attacker, and at Rennes, that was often the case in the past two seasons.”
NFN: Is there a comparison to another player in the Premier League that Kalimuendo is similar to?
JG: “I’d compare Arnaud to a player like Bryan Mbeumo. Livewire in the box, constantly in motion, and usually a good finisher. Scored a decent number of goals with his head, too. But as with Mbeumo, he also provided assists to his teammates.”
NFN: Does Kalimuendo have any weaknesses we should know about?
JG: “If played in a lone striker role, he can be dominated by tall defenders, especially if the expectation was that he’d get a long ball into his chest, or higher. Basically, he needs players around him to feed off.
“The main criticism levelled against him was that he occasionally disappeared in some games. Trouble is, as previously mentioned, in the system that he was playing in, he was rarely given the service he needed, behind defenders, or with early balls to feet.
“He often made great runs, but was seemingly rarely spotted by his teammates. Rennes played regularly as a team that played on the break, but struggled to break down sides when they ‘parked the bus’.
NFN: Finally, will Kalimuendo star in the Premier League?
JG: “Quite possibly. If he has a foil, like Chris Wood, to work off, he has the ability to latch on to loose balls, and knock-downs or lay-offs to find the net. Some Rennes fans are still sceptical about that, but I would still say that we rarely used him in the right way.”
Kalimuendo will hope to upstage Mbeumo this season
Mbeumo scored 20 goals last season for Brentford and Kalimuendo will now hope to follow in his footsteps with Forest.
The Cameroon striker joined United in a deal worth around £71 million during the summer and he should prove to be a very useful addition to the Red Devils’ ranks.
Kalimuendo will have to prove himself as a Premier League player but there is a lot to like given that the forward scored 17 times in Ligue 1 last season for Rennes.
Boasting experience in European competition is also ideal from a Forest perspective and hopefully, Kalimuendo can fire the club to another positive season during 2025/26.
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