Pierre Kalulu
Position: Left-back
Age: 22 (born June 5, 2000)
Shirt number: 20
Country: France (uncapped at senior level)
At AC Milan since: 2020
Having never played a first-team fixture at Olympique Lyonnais, Pierre Kalulu has been the biggest steal of the Rossoneri, having acquired him for just €480,000 in 2020.
Before arriving at the San Siro, his highest level has been the fourth tier of French football, where he had played for Lyon’s reserves.
Football is in the blood for Pierre, who was the youngest of the Kalulus behind older brothers Aldo and Gedeon, who plays for Sochaux and Lorient, respectively.
Apart from France (where he had been part of their Olympic squad), he is eligible for Rwanda and DR Congo owing to his lineage.
A full-back by position, he can be put into the center of defense when needed, hence his versatility. With his pace and skill dribbling, he was put into the left-back despite his preference to his right foot, which complements Davide Calabria who occupied the right-back role.
The six days of December 2020 marked the start of his footballing career, as he started on his professional debut on the 10th, in a vital away win in the Europa League against Sparta Prague with a clean sheet for the entire ninety minutes. Three days later, he came on for Matteo Gabbia on his domestic debut at home against Parma, which was followed by his first career goal on his first Serie A start in a 2-2 draw away at Genoa.
Pierre wrapped up his first season with 15 more appearances in all competitions, as Milan finished runners-up to Inter who won the Scudetto early.
He then followed it up with an even better second season at the San Siro, playing 37 times in all competitions and scored once, as he earned his first major silverware with Milan’s 19th Scudetto. He did that by having a solid partnership with Fikayo Tomori for most of the matches.