Pierre Kazeye Rommel Kalulu Kyatengwa (; born 5 June 2000) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender for club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, on loan from AC Milan. Having played for most of his youth career as a right-back, he began to play in central defense as his career progressed to the senior level.

Early life

Kalulu was born in the

8th arrondissement of Lyon The 8th arrondissement of Lyon is one of the 9 arrondissements of Lyon. Geography Quarters * Le Bachut * Monplaisir Ville * Monplaisir La Plaine, usually known as La Plaine * Mermoz Nord * Mermoz Sud * Les États-Unis * Le Transvaal * Laënnec ...

, France, and is Congolese by descent. His father was born in Kabimba, Belgian Congo, and his mother in Likasi, Congo-Léopoldville. He acquired French nationality on 26 December 2000 through the collective effect of his parents'

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

Club career

Lyon

Kalulu moved from his youth club Saint-Priest to the youth academy of

Olympique Lyon Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, ...

in the summer of 2010. In Lyon, he passed through the different youth departments from 2010 to 2018, and was elevated to their reserve team in June 2018. Ahead of the home game against Amiens played on 5 March 2020, Kalulu received his first ever call-up to the senior team. However, he remained on the bench for the entire game.

AC Milan

In the summer of 2020, Kalulu moved to Italy to join AC Milan, and signed a contract until 2025. On 10 December, he made his professional debut, playing the entire

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

game against Sparta Prague as a left-sided centre-back; as Milan won 1–0, he was praised for helping the team keep a clean sheet. Three days later, on 13 December, Kalulu made his debut in Serie A, replacing the injured

Matteo Gabbia Matteo Gabbia (; born 21 October 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club AC Milan. Club career AC Milan Gabbia joined AC Milan's youth academy in 2012 aged 12. He received his first ever call-u ...

in the fifth minute of a home game against Parma. In the following away league game against Genoa played on 16 December, he made his first-ever start in Serie A and scored a debut goal in his senior career, equalizing the score in the eventual 2–2 draw. During the 2021–22 season, after an injury to

Alessio Romagnoli Alessio Romagnoli (born 12 January 1995) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Lazio and the Italy national team. Romagnoli began his career with Roma in 2012, and later spent a season on loan with Sampdor ...

, Kalulu started the match against Napoli on 6 March 2022, partnering in central defence with Fikayo Tomori; he helped Milan to clinch a 1–0 win, impressing against Napoli's striker

Victor Osimhen Victor James Osimhen (born 29 December 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Napoli and the Nigeria national team. Born in Nigeria, Osimhen began his senior career in Germany at VfL Wolfsburg in 2017. Fol ...

. On 12 March against

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

, Kalulu scored his first goal of the season, a powerful curling shot from outside the box, as Milan managed to win 1–0 and stay top of the league. With him and Tomori again in central defence, Milan kept clean sheets in two consecutive Serie A games for the first time in 2022. In the 2022–23 season, Kalulu played in several different positions all throughout the season such as a right-sided centre-back next to Fikayo Tomori, on the right of a back-three with

Malick Thiaw Malick Laye Thiaw [] (born 8 August 2001) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Serie A club AC Milan and the Germany national football team, Germany national team. ...

in the middle and Tomori on the left, and as a right full-back in a back-four. However, towards the season's end, as manager Stefano Pioli switched back to 4–2–3–1 formation, Kalulu began to lose his place in the starting XI as a centre-back to Thiaw, the summer signing who emerged in the second half of the season, and team captain

Davide Calabria Davide Calabria (born 6 December 1996) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club AC Milan, whom he captains, and the Italy national team. Club career AC Milan Calabria has been with AC Milan since 2006, playing f ...

as a right full-back. The 2023–24 season further undermined Kalulu's career at Milan, with him limited to just 11 appearances in all competitions, mainly due to several injuries requiring months of rehabilitation. However, he managed to return to fitness by May 2024 and made three appearances during that month.

Loan to Juventus

On 21 August 2024, fellow Serie A side

announced the signing of Kalulu on a one-year loan, worth €3.3 million, with an option to buy at the end of the loan for a further €14 million.

International career

Since June 2018, he has played through the various national junior teams of France, taking part in the

2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (68th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footb ...

Personal life

Pierre Kalulu is the younger brother of footballers

Aldo Kalulu Aldo-Nsawila Kalulu Kyatengwa (born 21 January 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and striker for club Sochaux. He is a former France youth international. Club career Lyon Kalulu is a youth exponent ...

and

Gédéon Kalulu Gédéon Tshingoma Kalulu Kyatengwa (born 29 August 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Lorient. Born in France, he plays for the DR Congo national team. Early life Kalulu was born in the 8th arrondissem ...

. He is the older brother of Joseph Kalulu.

Career statistics

Honours

AC Milan * Serie A: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the AC Milan website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalulu, Pierre 2000 births Living people Footballers from Lyon French men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders Olympique Lyonnais players AC Milan players Juventus FC players Championnat National 2 players Serie A players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for France French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Italy Black French sportspeople French people of Rwandan descent French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Naturalized citizens of France