Walsall have announced that former loanee Milan Lalkovič has resigned for the club after the forward left fellow League One side Barnsley.
22-year-old Lalkovič has put pen-to-paper on a one year deal at Bank’s stadium, returning to the midlands after a successful loan spell in the 2013/14 season.
The Slovakian began his career at hometown club FK Košice-Barca and FC VSS Košice before earning himself a lucrative move to London with Chelsea in 2007.
His Chelsea career never got off the ground
He overall spent seven years at Stamford Bridge but failed to make a senior appearance. His spell at the current Premier League champions included four loans at Doncaster Rovers, ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands, Portuguese outfit Vitória and Walsall.
Lalkovič’s most successful loan period undoubtedly came at Walsall where he made 39 league appearances, scoring six times in the process.
He left Chelsea in 2014 to return to eastern Europe with Czech side FK Mladá Boleslav, before returning to England and League One with Barnsley.
Smith happy to see Lalkovič return
Speaking to the Express and Star, Walsall boss Dean Smith said that he was “really pleased to have Milan back on board.”
He added: “He did well for us before. There is a lot of potential in him and now that he is our player, we can be committed to the ‘Milan Lalkovič project’ and getting the best out of him.”
Smith also spoke of how Lalkovič is “full of enthusiasm” and that the Slovakian Under-21 international is a “real talent”.
44-year-old Smith was said to have been interested at the start of the summer in taking Lalkovič back to Walsall but wasn’t prepared to part with a fee for the striker.
However, Lalkovič was eventually allowed by Barnsley to leave Oakwell halfway through a two year deal. He yesterday signed a deal at Walsall to seal his return.
