Man of the Match in Slovakia’s shock win over Italy on Thursday, Marek Hamsik has done his hopes of a big move no harm during this tournament.
By Conor Hogan
Hamsik is more than just silly hair and tattoos. The dynamic 22-year-old has had an excellent season for Napoli, scoring 12 league goals from midfield. He has been the top scorer at his club three years running, and was named Slovakian Young Player of the Year twice.
Hamsik started off his footballing career at Slovan Bratislava, before earning a €500,000 move to Brescia in 2004 on the back of only six appearances. At the age of just 17, he was thrown into the Brescia first team, and coped admirably, despite his team’s eventual relegation.
Potential suitors: Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus
He flourished during two seasons in Serie B, scoring ten league goals from midfield in 2006-2007, and his performances earned him a €5m move to Napoli in 2007.
Hamsik is an extremely creative player. He’s an excellent passer of the ball, processes great vision, and gets forward at every opportunity. He has modeled his game on that of his icon, the former Juventus and Czech star Pavel Nedved.
Hamsik has been linked with £16million moves to both Manchester United and Manchester City, and a lot of big clubs across Europe will be monitoring his progress during the remainder of the tournament.
The Slovaks, who face Ireland in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, take on Holland in the last 16 on Monday afternoon.
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