on 7 july 2012, it was confirmed that kalou would sign for lille on a free transfer after being released by chelsea at the end of his contract. he was given the number 8 jersey. then-manager rudi garcia was pleased to see kalou join lille, but admitted that it was not easy to convince him to join the french side. kalou scored his first competitive goal for lille in his second appearance, a header to equalize the scoreline against nancy.