According to reports, Manchester United have lined up a £25m summer transfer bid for Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik.
Many critics believe Manchester United’s biggest weakness is the midfield and the fact that Paul Scholes form hasn’t been great and Ryan Giggs is not getting any younger may convince Alex Ferguson to make some player transfers come January.
With interest from Liverpool and Chelsea as well, the signing of Hamsik would add attacking ability to Manchester United’s midfield. Snapped up by Brescia after proving his skill with Slovan Bratislava. Managing to score 10 goals at Brescia from the midfield before being lifted from the team for 5.5 m Euros to move to Napoli.
Since 2007, Hamsik has established himself as one of the finest box to box, goalscoring midfielders in Serie A. His impressive record of 25 goals in just 81 games bears comparison with some of the finest midfielders in Serie A and there are many strikers who would be proud to boast a similar strike rate. 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 form for Slovakia has been equally 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.
Riccardo Bigon however has stated over the last few weeks that they have no intention of selling the player.
“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.
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.
