Lyon land Swede Källström
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Article summary
Olympique Lyonnais are to sign the Sweden midfield player Kim Källström on a four-year contract from Stade Rennais FC for a fee of €8m.
Article body
One of the great hopes of Swedish football, Kim Källström has already proven himself an adept passer and prolific scorer in his favoured position just behind the front two.
Honours
Källström announced himself as a prodigious talent at BK Häcken where he enjoyed three successful seasons before joining Djurgårdens IF in December 2001 for €1.35m. He helped the Stockholm club to the Allsvenskan title in both 2002 - their first championship since 1966 - and 2003 when he was the league's second-top scorer with 14 goals, before leaving Sweden for Stade Rennais FC in a €2m switch in January 2004. Källström had little trouble adjusting to life in Ligue 1 and a further 20 goals in three seasons in Britanny enhanced his already blossoming reputation. He had no shortage of admirers at the end of another impressive campaign in 2005/06 but had only one club in mind. "When Lyon came in for me there was no disputing where I would go," he said. Lyon paid Rennes €8m for Källström who signed a four-year contract with the French champions.
National team
Källström was first called into the Sweden fold after the 2002 FIFA World Cup for a friendly against Russia, and for a time juggled senior and Under-21 duties. He helped Sweden win one of eight places in the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals, then travelled to Portugal with the senior squad for UEFA EURO 2004™. He played in all four of Sweden's matches there and was also an integral part of the squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Did you know?
His father Mikael Källström was assistant coach of Häcken, Kim's first club.
