FANS’ favourite Tomasz Malasinski will return for a second stint with Swindon Wildcats next season, after agreeing to a three-year deal.

The Polish forward has spent two seasons with Katowice following his departure from the Link Centre following three successful seasons at the end of the 2016-2017 campaign.

But the 32-year-old’s absence from British hockey will end in August after final contract negotiations were concluded on Thursday morning.

And player-coach Aaron Nell was understandably delighted to have tied the proven scorer down to a long-term stay in Wiltshire.

He said: “Tomasz is a fantastic player, and a fantastic person.

“We’re delighted he has come back to us after a couple of years away – I’m sure the fans will be delighted to have him back.

“Tomasz is the best import the club has had in 20 years, and we’re delighted he has decided to come back to us.

“When he left, we all left on great terms – and he said that he wanted to come back to Swindon one day.

“I’m really happy that he has decided he wants to come back now.”

Malasinski is the third player to have signed a fresh deal with the club this off-season.

Sam Bullas has already put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal, while Stevie Whitfield has been confirmed for another two seasons.

Coach Nell admits he is more than happy to offer long-term deals to players he can call upon when the going gets tough.

And Malasinski epitomises everything Nell wants the Wildcats’ 2019-20 roster to be about. He added: “Players like Tomasz and Bully (Sam Bullas) are players we want to be here for a long time.

“I know Stevie Whitfield has a two-year contract too. We’re happy to sign players that we know we want on longer contracts.

“It’s something we can do with our stability. We’re delighted to have Tomasz on board.

“I’m pretty sure Tomasz will be our best player, if we can get a player better than him I’ll be delighted.

“We’ve given him a three-year contract, and we’ll be building our team around him.

“He plays with such speed, and I think he’ll make the whole team faster – especially his line mates.

“It’s a big move for us, we never wanted him to leave really. He was a fans’ favourite for three years, hopefully he can be for another three seasons too.”