Matic Paljk (born 2 October 1997) is a Slovenian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Nafta 1903.

Club career

Paljk started his youth career in Slovenia with

Izola Izola (; it, Isola ) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. It is the seat of the Municipality of Izola. Its name originates from Italian ''Isola'', which means 'island'. History An ancient Roman po ...

, before joining

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

in 2010. In 2015, Paljk joined Italian team

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

on loan. He only featured for the club's U19s before returning to Koper. On 17 July 2016, he made his professional debut in the

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...

against

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava stati ...

, playing the first half in a 1–0 defeat. He went onto play sixteen times for Koper throughout the 2016–17 season and scored one goal, against Olimpija Ljubljana in March 2017. He departed Koper in the following summer after the club suffered relegation to the

Slovenian Intercommunal Leagues Football in Slovenia is governed by the Football Association of Slovenia ( sl, Nogometna zveza Slovenije). Slovenia has participated in international football as an independent nation since 1991, when the country gained independence from SFR Yu ...

. In October 2017, Paljk joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

on a free transfer. He signed a contract until June 2018 and immediately linked up with the Swansea U23s. He was released at the conclusion of the 2017–18 season. In January 2019, Paljk returned to Slovenia's PrvaLiga after signing with Olimpija Ljubljana. After no competitive appearances for them, a loan move to the Second League with Gorica was completed in July 2019. Thirteen appearances followed, including his debut at home to ex-club Koper, as they won promotion to the top-flight via the play-offs. Paljk was signed permanently by Gorica in September 2020. His first game as a full-time member came in a defeat away to Olimpija Ljubljana on 30 September.

International career

Paljk has represented Slovenia at under-18 and under-21 level. He won four caps for the U18s, prior to making three appearances for the U21s in 2017. Paljk received a call-up to the U19s in November 2015.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Matic Paljk
at

NZS NZS may refer to: * Football Association of Slovenia * Independent Students Union (Poland) *New Zealand Standard and "joint Australian/New Zealand Standard" (AS/NZS) by Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand * New Zealand Steel *New Zealand ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paljk, Matic 1997 births Living people Footballers from Koper Men's association football fullbacks Slovenian men's footballers Slovenia men's youth international footballers Slovenia men's under-21 international footballers FC Koper players Swansea City A.F.C. players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players ND Gorica players ND Primorje players NK Nafta Lendava players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Slovenian Second League players Slovenian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in England