Captain of Napoli, nine years wearing the shirt and 400 appearances; Marek Hamsik becomes the third player in the club’s history to reach this milestone, but despite wearing the armband for several years now, he still remains a player who divides opinion.
 

Having been substituted in last Monday’s defeat at Roma, he will be the first to admit that he didn’t have his best game for the club, but it’s strange that a player who is now 29-years-old, should still be questioned. A talent that has never reached his full potential and even suggestions that he hasn’t displayed enough maturity or personality, are just some of the criticisms still aimed towards him. It doesn’t seem to matter that he has nearly reached the same amount of goals for Napoli as Maradona despite not playing in an offensive position. Like it doesn’t seem to matter that he rejected offers from Milan, Chelsea and last summer, Juventus where €25 million was placed on the table.  

And yet today he is criticised but for any defects he may have, there are many things he merits such as the nine years of service he has given to Napoli, despite being largely ignored by former coach Rafael Benitez, who searched in vain for someone who could match the Slovakian. People may accuse Hamsik of being shy, sometimes even timid, but cut him open and would bleed the blue blood of Napoli.

By Giovanni Scotto, translation by Steve Mitchell