The Croatian striker, once valued at Ksh2.6 billion and also played for AS Roma and Atletico Madrid, has rejoined his boyhood club on a salary of just €1 (Ksh172) per month
Former AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, and Fiorentina striker Nikola Kalinic has re-signed for boyhood club Hajduk Split in a deal worth €1 (Ksh172) per month.
For just one euro, the equivalent of just Ksh172, former Croatia international Kalinic will spend the next five months back with the HNL table toppers, who are on course to win their first Croatian title since 2005.
Kalinic, who earned a runners-up medal with Croatia at the 2018 World Cup, despite being sent home early for disciplinary reasons, spent two years at Blackburn completing a £6million transfer from Split and signing a four-year contract in August 2009.
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He moved to Ukraine to join the now-defunct Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in 2011 where he spent four years and scored 37 goals in 86 league games after which he played for Serie A side Fiorentina for three years, managing 27 goals in 69 league games.
Kalinic impressed in the Italian top flight so much so that he went on to play for AC Milan and AS Roma, as well as Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. After leaving Hellas Verona in 2022, he returned to Split for a 16-month spell which ended in June of last year.
Now the 35-year-old is back at the Stadion Poljud, putting pen to paper on a cheap deal. Split's sporting director, Mindaugas Nikolicius, explained after Kalinic's return was announced on Wednesday: "This was easiest deal in my 3 years at Hajduk - it's a one euro salary.”
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"Nikola returns with one aim: help Hajduk to win the title after 19 years." Nikolicius went on to say: "We all know what kind of situation he was in, we need to give him some time and see what form he will be in."
Kalinic will reclaim the No.9 shirt after new team-mate Aleksandar Trajkovski voluntarily gave it up and took No.27, the club added.
Money has never been a priority for Kalinic, as he even turned down a lucrative move to Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian which would've seen him earn a reported 50million euros in 2017.
Despite not having played since May, he will be put on a specific training plan to be ready for coach Mislav Karoglan.
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