Chalqi was born in Oujda, Morocco and played for Aubervillers, Olympique Noisy-le-Sec, Vincennes and Le Havre before joining Portuguese First Division side União Madeira.
He then moved on to Naval and French Second Division side Créteil, but lost his place when the club's new owner made money available for new players.
He joined Torquay United on trial in October 2000 and impressed manager Wes Saunders sufficiently to be rewarded with a contract on 10 November,[1] becoming the third French player at Plainmoor, the others being Jules Mendy and Habib Sissoko.
He was soon linked with a move to Hull City, but on 23 August was due to begin a trial with Plymouth Argyle by playing in a reserve game at Yeovil Town.
However, after a communication problem, Chalqi going to Plymouth when the match was in Yeovil, he finally began his trial with Argyle a week later.