Tomáš Kalas

Tomáš Kalas (born 15 May 1993) is a Czech professional footballer who plays for Schalke 04 and the Czech Republic national team.

He plays as a centre-back, but has also been played as a right-back.

Having begun his career at Sigma Olomouc, Kalas signed for Chelsea for a reported £5.2 million in 2010.

He spent most of his tenure out on loan, first back at Sigma, then at Vitesse Arnhem, 1. FC Köln, Middlesbrough, Fulham and Bristol City.

Born in Olomouc, Kalas started his career in his hometown with Sigma Olomouc, making his debut in a 2–0 victory over Slovan Liberec on 5 May 2010.

He then signed for Premier League champions Chelsea, on 7 July 2010, for a reported figure of around £5.2 million, although it was agreed that he would stay at Sigma Olomouc for the 2010–11 season.

Kalas arrived at Chelsea for the second half of the 2010–11 season and made his Chelsea reserve team debut in a 2–2 away draw to Aston Villa on 21 February.

On 22 August 2011 Kalas joined Dutch football club Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the 2011–12 season.

He was given the number 2 jersey.

He made his debut for Vitesse on 17 September 2011 against Roda JC Kerkrade which ended in a 5–0 win for Vitesse.

Kalas earned 42 caps and scored once for the Czech youth international teams, and made his senior international debut in 2012.

In March 2012, Kalas admitted that he did not yet know where he will be playing next season, but was happy on loan at Vitesse.

"Ideally I'll stay another year at this club," he told.

"Simply put, there are three options. I'll stay here, go back to Chelsea or they will loan me to another club abroad. In late March I will talk with my managers about next season and know more."

On 17 May 2012, Kalas scored the opening goal in the 22nd minute, for Vitesse against RKC Waalwijk; the match ended in a 3–1 win for Vitesse.

This goal was Kalas' first goal of his professional career.

On 11 July 2012, Kalas rejoined Vitesse on a new loan deal until the end of the 2012–13 season.

Kalas scored his first Eredivisie goal of the season for Vitesse in a 3–0 defeat of FC Groningen on 16 September 2012.

During his second loan spell at Vitesse, Kalas was mainly deployed as a right-back instead of his natural centre-back.

Kalas ended up playing a total of 76 games overall competition during his two-year stay at Vitesse.

On 10 July 2013 Chelsea manager José Mourinho confirmed Kalas would stay and fight for his place at Chelsea for the coming season.

During Chelsea's 2013 pre-season Asia tour, Kalas made 3 appearances for Chelsea, in wins against the Singha All Stars, the Malaysian XI, and the Indonesian XI.

During pre-season training, Kalas suffered fractured fibula, cutting his action with the first-team short as the rest of the team flew over to America for the Guinness International Champions Cup.

After finally recovered from his injuries, Kalas made his competitive debut for the senior squad on 29 October 2013 as a substitute for Juan Mata, in a 2–0 win at Arsenal in the League Cup.

Speaking of his role at Chelsea, Kalas said in an interview with a Czech chat show: "I am a player for training sessions. If they need a cone they put me there instead."

On 18 March 2014, Kalas made his Champions League debut against Galatasaray, replacing Willian in stoppage time; Chelsea won 2–0.

On 27 April 2014, Kalas was given his debut in the Premier League for Chelsea, at Anfield against Liverpool, starting in place of the injured John Terry.

He played the whole 90 minutes in a 2–0 win that kept Chelsea in contention for the league title.

On 11 June 2014, 1. FC Köln announced that Kalas would spend the 2014–15 season on loan at their club.

On 24 September, Kalas made his debut for Köln II, FC Köln's reserve team, against Borussia Mönchengladbach II; the game ended in a 2–1 win for Köln II.

On 25 October 2014, Kalas made another appearance for Köln II against SC Verl; the game ended in a 2–0 loss for Köln II.

Kalas, himself, did not know why he had been given the cold shoulder at Köln, where he played only two reserve games.

During an interview, Kalas said "At first they were happy with my performances but then I didn’t play in any game [sic]. I don’t know what went wrong."

Manager Aitor Karanka praised Kalas' aptitude to the right-back position, where Middlesbrough had been challenged following a long-term injury to Damià Abella in September 2014.

With the lack of playing time, Kalas was linked to a move to multiple English clubs, as well as his former team Vitesse in the January 2015 transfer window.

On 9 January 2015, Middlesbrough announced that Kalas would spend the remainder of the 2014–15 season on loan at the Championship club.

The day after signing with the Boro, Kalas made his debut for Middlesbrough in a 0–0 draw against Reading.

He also extended his contract with Chelsea until the summer of 2017.

He transferred to Bristol City fully in 2019.

He was included in the Czech Republic squad for UEFA Euro 2020.