When he arrived at Chelsea two years ago Salomon Kalou, by his own admission, felt like a starstruck tourist. On his first day at the club following his £8million move from Feyenoord, Kalou confessed to taking a camera to the Blues' Cobham training ground because he could not believe he was about to rub shoulders with the likes of Michael Ballack, John Terry and Didier Drogba.

During his first season, there were many watching at Stamford Bridge who felt that he was having a holiday as he struggled to make an impact.

Avram Grant gave Kalou more opportunities during that last campaign and he responded with 11 goals and nine assists in 48 appearances.

Now, with Luiz Felipe Scolari in charge and Didier Drogba struggling for fitness, Kalou has moved on again. Two goals in eight games, including the equaliser against Manchester United last month, have left the Ivorian feeling more and more that he is now a leader, not a follower at Chelsea.

"My objective this season is to force my way to becoming one of Chelsea's most important players," he said. "I'm going to up my work rate because I remain a team player.

"This club's expectation is to win every one of the four competitions we are in and that can only be if each one of us strives to give more than ever before "I want to start meeting and then exceeding the expectations which people around me at Chelsea have for my level of contribution and I want to be a key figure in providing victories."

Good words and, perhaps, an overdue sentiment. He's now 23 years old and modern football demands that he should be commanding world recognition not hiding in the shadows.

That's precisely the type of player which Kalou found intimidating when he pitched up at Cobham in the summer of 2006.

He explained: "The first time was so exciting that I took a camera with me because I wanted a picture of me with every one of my new team-mates. This was the dream moment of my life and I did not want to wake up and find out that it was not real. Suddenly to find yourself on the pitch with Ballack and Drogba . . . well it was impossible not to feel like a timid young lad.

"The key thing to explain that overwhelming sentiment is that I never, even in my dreams, thought I'd some day be at this level and playing in this kind of company.

"But I know enough to realise that it's not getting to the top that is important but deserving to stay there.

"That's what I'm after now. It didn't take me too long to realise that everyone treats each other like equals here and it's like a bunch of lads all heading off to school every day. What's more the bigger the name, here, the more humble, straightforward and helpful they are.

"John Terry is the classic example; the first time I saw him joking and larking around it came as a big surprise to me because I'd expected a different personality."

Kalou once scored 24 goals in one campaign at Feyenoord and he is confident that under Scolari he can do the same again.

He said: "There are some trainers who don't need a month's work to show you precisely how good they are at their job. For me it needed precisely one training session to be totally convinced that the boss was precisely the right guy to take charge of Chelsea."