Nottingham Forest’s spending spree continues apace following their capture of Rennes forward Arnaud Kalimuendo (£6.0m).
The 23-year-old has agreed a five-year deal and moves for an initial £26m before add-ons.
Kalimuendo’s arrival comes hot on the heels of the weekend signings of James McAtee (£5.5m) from Manchester City and Omari Hutchison (£5.5m) from Ipswich Town. We’ll be looking at those two in another article.
But how will Kalimuendo fit into Forest’s rapidly expanding strike force – and is he a threat to Chris Wood (£7.6m)? Here we take a look in this Scout Report.
Brief History
Kalimuendo came through Paris Saint-Germain’s youth academy but like many young forwards at the all-conquering club from the French capital, found first-team opportunities hard to come by.
Two loan spells at RC Lens followed, which produced a total of 19 goals from 60 runouts.
These were impressive numbers for a player in his late teens. He scored 0.49 goals per 90 minutes, from an xG of 0.40 per 90, in his first two seasons in senior top-flight football. In other words, Kalimuendo outperformed his expected goals by over three across two seasons – early signs of a player with elite finishing ability.
A permanent move to Rennes followed. His output got better and better over the course of his three years in Brittany, and last season proved to be his breakout year. His 17 goals placed him third in the Ligue 1 scorers’ charts.
Kalimuendo, who is of Congolese descent, has also represented France at youth level. He played at the Under-17 World Cup as well as at last year’s Summer Olympics, where he scored in the group stage and featured in the final as France lost 5-3 in extra time to Spain. He has also scored 11 goals in 33 appearances for France’s under-21s.
Playing style
Kalimuendo has been used primarily as a centre-forward to date, with 58 of his 65 goals coming when leading the line.
However, the 23-year-old has the pace and ability to stretch defenders and play out wide, a feature of a number of Nuno Espirito Santo’s recent signings.
Indeed, we saw more of Kalimuendo’s versatility under new Rennes manager Habib Beye (via Opta):
Standing at 5ft 9in and not particularly adept in the air, the new Forest forward is no Chris Wood clone. However, he has the skillset to complement the New Zealander. His low centre of gravity means he is sharp in crowded areas, where he likes to play quick one-twos or turn defenders to get shots off with either foot.
Capable of all types of finishes, from the curler into the corner to the low angled drive, Kalimuendo also has good game awareness and will play in a team-mate with a square pass or a cutback if they are better placed to score. He is also adept at winning possession in the final third.
The stats
| Season | Team | Starts (sub apps) | Mins | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/2025 | Rennes | 31(2) | 2592 | 17 | 3 |
| 2023/2024 | Rennes | 25(5) | 2154 | 10 | 1 |
| 2022/2023 | Rennes | 24(6) | 1862 | 7 | 3 |
| 2021/2022 | Lens | 27(5) | 2165 | 12 | – |
| 2020/2021 | Lens | 13(15) | 1218 | 7 | 3 |
Stats courtesy of WhoScored
Kalimuendo produced a variety of finishes with his right foot, left foot and head last season. All 17 goals came from inside the penalty area.
Ousmane Dembele and Mason Greenwood were the only players to outscore him in the 2024/25 Ligue I but Kalimuendo’s shot-to-goal conversion rate of 22% was superior to both.
At Premier League level, you have to be clinical – so Kalimunedo’s goals-per-game ratio of 0.59 and ability to dispatch presentable opportunities is eye-catching. Last season, he put away 72% (13 of 18) of his big chances, a figure bettered by only one regular scorer in Ligue 1.
Stats courtesy of Footystats
It’s worth pointing out that five of his goals came from the penalty spot. He’ll face a battle to depose Wood from the penalty-taking pecking order but, on the other hand, if the Kiwi striker isn’t playing, he could well get a chance to step up.
He did miss three of his eight spot-kicks in 2024/25, however!
Where Kalimuendo fits in at Forest
After a convincing 3-1 win in Gameweek 1 it could be argued that Forest do not need attacking reinforcements. Wood grabbed a brace, Ndoye scored on debut and Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m) was outstanding.
But Forest won’t play Brentford every week and they also have a Europa League campaign to manage this season, which means the minutes will be shared around to keep everybody fresh.
On Sunday, Wood spearheaded a 4-2-3-1 formation, where he was supported by Gibbs-White in the No 10 role with Ndoye on the right flank and Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m) on the left.
Kalimuendo could be used as a replacement or substitute for Wood – like Igor Jesus (£6.0m). Alternatively, he could also be deployed on the flank, probably on the left instead of Hudson-Odoi, whose injury record suggests he needs to be used sparingly. Hutchinson and Ndoye would seem to have the right flank locked down.
Is Kaliminuendo worth buying in FPL?
We end all of our Scout Reports with the same question and, in this instance, the answer is a definite ‘no’ – for now, anyway.
One suspects that to begin with, Kalimuendo will be earmarked for a role up front instead of Wood in the Europa League’s early matches, and as an impact substitute in the Premier League, with a view to keeping the 33-year-old striker fresh. One of the reasons the Kiwi was so effective last season was that he only had to play once a week.
Playing the Frenchman, who already has 12 Europa League appearances to his name, in Europe will enable him to familiarise himself with his team-mates and seek to prove his worth as the main striker.
It could also be that Espirito Santo plans to play Kalimuendo on the flank, perhaps instead of Hudson-Odoi, whose injury record is such that he needs to be used sparingly.
Now is a good time to bring Forest players into your FPL team (if you didn’t have any already), given their fixtures look attractive until Gameweek 6. It’s too soon for Kalimuendo, alas, and by the time he’s pushing for a Premier League spot, that favourable run will probably be over.
The short-term FPL impact may be on Wood’s minutes, if not his starts. With Jesus and Kalimuendo to call on, Nuno has something he didn’t in 2024/25: viable alternatives off the bench. The different skillsets (Wood the aerially strong targetman, Kalimuendo the speedster, Jesus somewhere in between) means Nuno can also tailor his striker to the game-plan accordingly.
While the damage had already been done on Sunday, Wood’s Gameweek 1 substitution was only the second time in 2025 that he’s been taken off before the 80th minute. There might be more of that in the weeks ahead, then.
