Midfielder Marek Hamsik it appears, has caught the attention of Alex Ferguson for the January transfer window.
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.
With interest from Liverpool and Chelsea as well, the signing of Hamsik would add attacking ability to Manchester United’s midfield. The Slovakian international started his career with Slovan Bratislava but quickly showed his quality to persuade Brescia to snap him up. 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, Hamsik’s efforts in Serie A have established him as one of the best midfielders in the world. Many strikers would be proud to boast a similar strikerate as Hamsik with 25 goals from 81 games. Recently Hamsik scored twice as Napoli recorded their first win over Juventus in Turin for 21 years and his performances have impressed many experts in Italy, who have been quick to label the Slovakian international as the best midfielder in Serie A.
Hamsik’s efforts for his national team Slovakia have been extremely impressive. 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.
Interest and a big offer from major teams may not be enough however with sporting director Riccardo Bigon stating:
“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.”
These comments have since been substantiated by Napoli chairman Aurielo De Laurentiis who confirmed:
“Many clubs have requested Hamsik, it’s true, but he will stay with us for the long-term”
Whether in Summer, Napoli maintain the same comments is yet to be seen. Whether Napoli really plans to keep Hamsik into the future only time will tell, with not a lot of cash in the club it can be hard to see them not be at least tempted to sell the player if the offer is right.
One factor which could scupper any deal however is Chelsea. Roman Abramovich has purportedly given manager Carlo Ancelotti the green light to make a £25m move for the player so. However with Chelsea set to be banned from transfers from February, it seems likely that the Blues will only be able to make a move for Hamsik during the transfer window and as such, the Londoners could gazump United’s own plans for the midfielder many pundits feel is cut from the same cloth as Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes.
