Kim Källström

Early life

Källström was born in Sandviken 24 August 1982 to footballer Mikael and Ann Källström. In 1986, he joined the local Sandvikens IF football team. In 1989, the family moved to Partille outside Gothenburg and Källström started to play in Partille IF. When Källström was 17 years old he had a trial with Dutch club PSV Källström told in the Radio show Sommar i P1 (Summer on P1).

Early career

Källström began his professional career with BK Häcken from Gothenburg. In his first season, the club gained promotion the Allsvenskan by winning the Division 1 Södra. Häcken were relegated to the Superettan in 2001, but Källström's eight Allsvenskan goals earned him a transfer to Djurgårdens IF for SEK5m.

Djurgårdens IF

In his first season at Djurgården, Källström won the double of the Allsvenskan and the national cup tournament Svenska Cupen, and was the team's top scorer with 12 league goals. The team defended its Allsvenskan title in 2003, with Källström's 14 goals making him the team's top goalscorer and the second-highest goalscorer in Sweden.

He scored twice during the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, in fixtures against Shamrock Rovers and Copenhagen.

Stade Rennais

In the January 2004 transfer window, Källström moved to the French Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais. He made his debut for the club in the Coupe de France against Angers on 4 January and his first Ligue 1 appearance in a 2–0 defeat at Toulouse on 10 January. A week later, he scored his first goal in French football during a 4–0 win over Sochaux at the Route de Lorient. He ended the 2003–04 season with seven goals from 18 appearances, including two in a 4–1 away win against Champions League finalists AS Monaco.

During the 2004–05 season, Källström scored five times in 31 Ligue 1 matches to help Rennes finish fourth and qualify for the following season's UEFA Cup. On 5 February 2005, he received his first red card in French football in a 3–1 defeat at Olympique de Marseille.

In 2005–06, he scored a career-best eight Ligue 1 goals, many of which came in fixtures against some of the biggest clubs in France. In June 2006, Rennes accepted a bid of around €8m for the player from league champions Olympique Lyonnais.

Källström ended his two-and-a-half year spell at Rennes with 20 goals from 83 league appearances.

Olympique Lyonnais

After a successful spell at Rennes, Källström signed for Lyon in June 2006, and went on to win a number of honours with the southern club.

His Lyon debut saw him score the equalising goal as les Gones won the Trophée des Champions against Paris Saint-Germain on penalties. Five days later, he made his league debut against Nantes in a 3–1 win.

On 17 October 2006, Källström scored his first Lyon goal in a 3–0 win against Dynamo Kyiv in Champions League. After ending the group stage unbeaten – including a defeat of nine times champions Real Madrid at the Stade de Gerland – Lyon were knocked out in the round-of-16 by Roma.

On 22 October, Källström scored his first Ligue 1 goal for the club in a 4–1 Choc des Olympiques derby defeat of Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome. He scored further goals in league wins against Saint-Étienne and Nancy as Lyon won the French championship for the sixth consecutive season.

On 31 March 2008, he appeared as a 68th-minute substitute as Lyon were beaten 1–0 by Girondins de Bordeaux in the 2008 Coupe de la Ligue Final.

The 2007–08 season began with Valencia rumoured to be interested in signing Källström from Lyon, who wanted to keep the player despite the €13 million offer. Källström remained at Lyon and, in the second round of the Ligue 1 season, was sent off after spitting towards a linesman during a 1–0 loss at Toulouse.

On 29 September 2007, he scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 defeat of Lens. A week later, he scored again in a 3–1 win at Bordeaux. On 8 November, he scored in a 4–2 Champions League defeat of VfB Stuttgart. However, Lyon were again knocked out in the round-of-16, losing to eventual winners Manchester United 2–1 on aggregate in March 2008.

On 2 December 2007, Källström scored two goals and assisted another as Lyon beat Strasbourg 5–0 at the Gerland. On the final day of the league season, Källström scored in a 3–1 win at Auxerre to secure a seventh league title. On 28 May 2008, he started in the 2008 Coupe de France Final as Lyon completed the club's first league and cup double with a 1–0 win against Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade de France.

On 16 November 2008, Källström scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season in a 2–1 win over championship rivals Bordeaux to put Lyon seven points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table. His only other goal came in a 1–1 draw with his former club Rennes on 1 March 2009. Poor late season form saw OL slip to third in the table, with Bordeaux winning the championship on the final day of the season.

Källström scored four goals in Ligue 1 during the 2009–10 season. His first goal came in a 2–0 win against Lens on 3 October 2009. On 20 January 2010, he scored twice in a 3–1 win at Lorient. His final goal was scored in a 2–2 draw with Valenciennes on the penultimate matchday of the season.

On 8 November 2009, he started in a 5–5 Choc des Olympiques draw with Marseille. OM went on to win the league title, with Lyon six points behind in second place.

The 2009–10 Champions League saw Lyon have the club's most successful season in the competition. Källström scored in a 4–0 win at Hungarian champions Debreceni VSC and made eleven appearances overall, helping les Gones reach the semi-finals where they lost to Bayern Munich.

During 2010–11, Källström occasionally provided cover at left-back, in addition to his favoured midfield role. He scored three goals in Ligue 1, including the equaliser against eventual champions Lille in a 1–1 draw.

The 2011–12 season was Källström's last at the club. He made 32 appearances in Ligue 1 without scoring.

In the Coupe de France, he scored one goal and assisted another as Lyon knocked out Paris Saint-Germain with a 3–1 win at the Parc des Princes at the quarter-final stage. A 4–0 win against Gazélec Ajaccio in the semi-finals put OL into the 2012 Coupe de France Final, where Källström played the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win over Quevilly. Lyon also reached the final of the 2011–12 Coupe de la Ligue, with Källstrom scoring in the quarter-final defeat of Lille. However, Lyon's chances of a cup double were ended by a 1–0 extra time defeat by Marseille.

In August 2012, Källström left Lyon after six seasons. Overall, he made 283 appearances for the club, winning two Ligue 1 titles, two Coupes de France and two Trophées des Champions. He was also a runner-up in the Coupe de la Ligue on two occasions.

FC Spartak Moscow

On 28 July 2012, it was announced that Källström had signed with FC Spartak Moscow for €3 million and €600,000 variables. On 15 September, he made his Russian Premier League debut in a 2–2 draw with Kuban Krasnodar. On 29 September, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 against Amkar Perm.

He played in all of Spartak's 2012–13 UEFA Champions League group matches, receiving a red card in a 2–1 defeat at Celtic on 5 December 2012.

Loan to Arsenal

On 31 January 2014, Källström joined Arsenal on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. Although a back injury was discovered during his medical, it was decided Källström would still join and undergo his rehabilitation at Arsenal. Källström made his debut for Arsenal on 25 March against Swansea City in the Premier League, coming on in the 79th minute as a substitute for Tomáš Rosický. His next appearance came two weeks later in the FA Cup semi-finals against defending champions Wigan Athletic. Introduced as an extra-time substitute, he scored Arsenal's second spot kick in their 4–2 penalty shoot-out win which saw them advance to the final. Three days later, he made his first start for Arsenal in a 3–1 victory against West Ham United. After making four appearance in all competitions, it was announced that Källström would not return to Arsenal once his loan spell with them expired at the end of the season. Despite only making four appearances, Källström says he enjoyed his time at Arsenal.

Grasshoppers

After three years in Russia, Källström left Spartak and signed for Swiss Super League club Grasshopper Club Zürich on 6 June 2015. He scored his only goal for the club on 29 November 2015, the final goal in a 5–0 win against city rivals FC Zürich. Källström was also named captain upon his arrival at the side. After one and a half year, Källström wanted to leave Grasshoppers, citing personal reasons and dissatisfaction with the clubs results. He subsequently ended his contract with the club by mutual consent on 31 January 2017.

Return to Sweden

On February 10, Källström returned to Djurgårdens IF in Allsvenskan, signing a two year deal with the club. Källström was immediately handed his old number 16. The club's announcement of signing Källström lead to a crash of the official website of Djurgården, "dif.se", due to the amount of visitors on the website.

International career

Källström made his international debut in 2001 against Finland. He made the Swedish squad for the UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, and UEFA Euro 2012 tournaments. He also scored Sweden's first goal in the 3–2 win over the Netherlands to take the Blågult to Euro 2012.

In a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Germany on 16 October 2012, Källström was brought on as a substitute for Pontus Wernbloom at half time with Sweden losing 0–3. Despite conceding another goal, with three assists from him, Sweden earned a 4–4 draw.

In the return match against Germany, Källström helped Max (a team Mascot who suffers from Williams Syndrome) through his big moment, which has spread around social media platforms usually awash with negative and cynical aspects of ‘the beautiful game’. Max's father Emil wrote to Källström, expressing his thanks. He said: "Because of your actions, Kim, my son could experience precisely the same emotions as everyone else who has been a mascot: pride, a sense of being special, 'I did it' and an immense joy."

Källström retired from the national team after Euro 2016, having amassed 131 caps, scoring 16 goals. He is Sweden's fourth most capped player.

Playing style

A central midfielder who can also play on the left side of midfield as a wide midfielder, Källström has the potential to work as a deep lying playmaker or as a more attacking influence. He is also known for his left-footed free kick ability.

Career statistics

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Club

Individual