According to reports, Manchester United have lined up a £25m summer transfer bid for Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik.
The form of veteran former England midfielder Paul Scholes, plus the fact that Ryan Giggs is not getting any younger has convinced Sir Alex Ferguson of the need to bring in a top notch quality replacement to bolster what is perceived by some critics to be United’s biggest weakness, midfield.
Manchester is not alone in regards to Hamsik, both Chelsea and rivals Liverpool have shown interest in the star midfielder. Starting his career with Slovan Bratislava the Slovakian international quickly proved his ability and was bought by Brescia. He shone in Italy with Brescia scoring a hugely impressive ten goals from midfield and it wasn’t too long before Napoli paid over 5.5m Euros to take the player to the Sao Paolo.
Since 2007, the goal scoring efforts of Hamsik have made him one of the best in Serie A. Many strikers would be proud to boast a similar strikerate as Hamsik with 25 goals from 81 games. The Slovakian midfielder has quickly been named the best midfielder in Serie A by experts throughout Italy after his two goals against Juventus.
Hamsik’s performances have been equally impressive for his national side, Slovakia. He has been the driving force behind the countries qualification for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa and he is being touted as being one of the major stars to emerge from the tournament in the summer.
Despite interest in the player from Manchester United and Chelsea in recent weeks, Napoli have refused to sanction any idea that the player will be sold. This has been reiterated in recent weeks by sporting director Riccardo Bigon who stated:
“Manchester United are after Hamsik? If we rejected the rumours regarding a friend like [Carlo] Ancelotti and his Chelsea, it is obvious we also reject these rumours.”
comments from Napoli chairman seem to support the claim that Hamsik is not on the market.
“Many clubs have requested Hamsik, it’s true, but he will stay with us for the long-term”
Whether this stance will soften in the summer, when United hope to make their move, remains to be seen. Napoli are not a particularly wealthy club and despite the chairman’s insistence that Hamsik is not for sale, it remains to be seen that if a firm offer was on the table that matched their valuation, whether they would be tempted into selling.
Chelsea’s desperation to buy players may push any deals between the two clubs away. Roman Abramovich has purportedly given manager Carlo Ancelotti the green light to make a £25m move for the player so they might beat Manchester United to the punch
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