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Bialkowski's Permanent Millwall Move Confirmed
Monday, 27th Jan 2020 13:22

Keeper Bartosz Bialkowski’s permanent switch to his loan club Millwall has been confirmed.

The 32-year-old Polish international had been on a season-long loan at the Den but with both parties keen to tie-up a longer-term switch this window.

In Millwall's case before other clubs look to sign him in the summer - Cardiff and Blackburn showed interest early in the window prior to a deadline for his January recall passed - and Town to gain cash which they could now work with during the final days of the transfer window with a loan, or perhaps two, more likely than permanent additions. It’s understood Bialkowski has signed an 18-month deal at the Den.

In June, Bialkowski came close to joining the Lions on a permanent basis but the move broke down due to concerns regarding the keeper’s knee which emerged during his medical and the £900,000 deal was called off.

A month later the loan move was agreed and Bialkowski has enjoyed a very impressive first half of the season for the Championship side. He has made 29 starts and one sub appearance.

It’s understood the undisclosed fee agreed between the clubs is lower than the one agreed in the summer with an initial sum payable to the Blues now plus further cash over the duration of his contract and add-ons related to appearances and performance. It's likely there is also a sell-on clause included in the deal.

Bialkowski made 177 starts and one sub appearance for the Blues having signed from Notts County in the summer of 2014 on a free transfer.

The 6ft 4in glovesman, who had a short spell on loan at Town in 2009 without making a senior appearance, won the club's Player of the Year gong in three successive seasons before relinquishing the award in 2018/19.


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MJR101 added 13:26 - Jan 27
A touch disappointing but inevitable. Have Millwall conned is with this dodgy knee stuff then paying a lower fee?
0

MJR101 added 13:26 - Jan 27
A touch disappointing but inevitable. Have Millwall conned us with this dodgy knee stuff then paying a lower fee?
2

bradforblues added 13:27 - Jan 27
Sold cheaply but will free up a lot of wages. In truth I don't think we've missed him that much but frustrating how we seem to buy high and sell low
6

beornioblue added 13:27 - Jan 27
weve had our pants well and truly pulled down over this 100% , and whatever the pathetic sum is we dont even get all of it to start with !!! haha Joke
9

casanovacrow added 13:29 - Jan 27
Not surprised he went but embarrassed to get less than we previously agreed after the season he's having. I would've waited until summer to decide what to do, had nothing to lose n at that price very little to gain.
4

hoppy added 13:29 - Jan 27
Lower fee is annoying. Hopefully not too much lower. Should've been more than the £900K really...
8

BlueNomad added 13:33 - Jan 27
Blimey! Three comments (although one was a duplicate) before the first meltdown. That was slow.

We get a fee plus lose our biggest wage earner while we remain well covered for keepers.
8

cornishnick added 13:33 - Jan 27
Buy high and sell low? Whenever do we buy high? And we bought him on a free anyway!
9

boroughblue added 13:34 - Jan 27
right move for all parties, but I feel a bit seen off with the fee I can't lie. If he was only worth £900k in the summer when he would perhaps have been considered in 'poor form', then surely he's worth more now after a very good first half of the season? or that could just be me missing something.

Anyway, having said that. All the very best to you Bart, a fantastic goalkeeper and a top bloke. Must admit I accepted this happening a while ago so not too disappointed now. A standout performer in what could have been called a poor team for a couple of years. Good luck Bartman...
17

BlueandTruesince82 added 13:36 - Jan 27
I knew we were selling him but to Millwall?!!!!!!!!!!!
8

ArnieM added 13:40 - Jan 27
From the moment he returned from the World Cup ( along with Knudsen), neither of them wanted to remain at this Club. Both worked the exit passage IMO. And neither were all that much . But Town being Town, we get f luck all in the transfer market for outgoing players where 99.9% of all other Clubs would have secured far better deals.

...... and Evans wonders why the debt keeps rising!!
-5

dirtydingusmagee added 13:46 - Jan 27
had written Bart off ages ago as being aTown player.He had wanted gone since the Hurst episode .I M O ,We could have waited till summer for a better deal, Millwall wanted to get it done before other clubs came in for him in summer, the proverbial ball was in our court. That said we don't know the money involved other than that it was less than the 900 grand.Good luck Bart .
9

OsborneOneNil added 13:50 - Jan 27
Good business. Cracking player for us during those 3 POTY seasons, but pretty woeful in his last season. The money is decent, wages gone, we have 2 very capable keepers in place, now we can strengthen for the Promotion push.
9

Dozzells_Bobblehat added 13:50 - Jan 27
Beornioblue - that's how the vast majority of transfers work ! !
3

Len_Brennan added 13:50 - Jan 27
The possible factors in favour of the reported deal here would be:
If we're still paying some of his wages - Millwall are not a rich club & Bart was our highest paid player having negotiated a 'bumper deal' ahead of last season, so we may have been carrying a portion of it.
Bart had made it clear that he wanted to go to Millwall (or another side from London & surrounds) & would see out his contract in preference to a distance move to Blackburn or Cardiff
The relationship between Bart & (some people at) the club had broken down so badly last season, that there was no prospect of him playing for us again in the future
We urgently needed cash in to complete a deal for a new player before the window shuts, & this one has no affect on our current match day squad

One or all of the above could be the case, at which point the decision to sell for less than summer amount makes sense, both from a commercial & footballing perspective.
It just doesn't sit well with us though as he was a hero to us for 3 years+, and by all reports (mostly from inside the Millwall camp itself) is back playing on a par with his best performances in an Ipswich shirt. His knee is no longer a concern for Millwall & 2 other Championship sides were interested in him (reportedly - so perhaps there was no firm interest that indicated a likely bid), so if anything his value should have risen. I guess from the moment we went past the deadline where he could be sold to other side, we lost all the bargaining power and so today's news was almost inevitable. Maybe we had little hope of getting a deal done with Millwall or another side before that date, but that was the key for us getting a deal done for more than the €900,000 previously agreed.
5

beornioblue added 14:01 - Jan 27
What we get our pants pulled down Bobble ?? yes i know haha
-2

PortmanTerrorist added 14:11 - Jan 27
Wouldn't be refreshing if the Club came out and just told us what they accepted, reasons why, and how much PL has of the fee to reinvest. Even if the answer was peanuts, wages, and nothing to PL we could at least start to understand and stop folks on here and around the Club always assuming we get made fools of in the transfer market. Let's not forget though that although we lost out re Bart and Knudsen, this is what happens when you let players run contracts down.....just ask Tranmere re Norwood!
10

Sikamikanico added 14:23 - Jan 27
@PortmanTerrorist

Yes, let's announce to the whole football community how much we have to spend....
4

midastouch added 14:25 - Jan 27
If his knees are so bad how come he's playing every week for Millwall? I bet the Millwall board are having a knees up after getting Bart at such a cheap as chips price! Hindsight is a wonderful thing but looks like we should of cashed out earlier to Crystal Palace.
2

brendenward35 added 14:29 - Jan 27
Well and truly been conned into this one, thought PL said no players going on the cheap any more? bet the money wouldn't even cover L2 replacement keeper absolute joke of a club
-4

LegendofthePhoenix added 14:34 - Jan 27
Does no one have anything positive to say to Bart? I would like to thanks him for 2 brilliant seasons where he kept us in the Championship. He is a great person, and would I'm sure have loved to stay at PR had we not got relegated. Yeah, we all know his form took a nosedive after the world cup, he knows that himself. We lost Malcolm Webster who was his mentor, and he didn't get a proper pre-season, and all of that affected him, but doesn't alter the fact that he was our best player for 2-3 years. Thanks for the memories Bart and good luck.
18

wokingblue added 14:44 - Jan 27
Sad to see him go but whatever fee we get it will 100% more than we paid. We had two great seasons and now it frees up wages. Lets move on.
8

BigBlueMac added 14:48 - Jan 27
We were never going to get great money having dropped a league. But high earner off the books and hopefully a little cash to fund something we need
6

Bluearmy71 added 14:57 - Jan 27
Freeing up his wages will easily match any deficit in the transfer fee we got for him and will put the club in a far better position to make sure we hold onto FD and LW as long as possible, two players that offer far more to the club than Bart ever could or would have done, look at the bigger picture, it maybe less than people may have wanted for Bart at the moment but in time will work out to be much more beneficial to the club longer term!

As for Bart himself, yeah he did good for us but we did much better for him, I'm always disappointed when players want to leave and make it clear in body language and performance that this is the case, if he didn't wish to play for us when we needed him (ie where we are now) then its hard for me to over look that and i do feel let down by someone who we all loved as our goalie!
-1

PJH added 15:07 - Jan 27
Good luck Bart and thank you.
13


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