Marek Hamšík

Marek Hamšík ( Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmareɡ ˈɦamʂiːk]; born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the team manager and assistant coach for the Slovakia national team.

After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 2004, Hamšík moved to Italian club Brescia later that year. In 2007, he was purchased by newly promoted Serie A club Napoli, where he became a mainstay in the squad's starting line-up. His energy, leadership, creativity, skill and eye for goal from midfield saw him play a key role in helping the team to two Coppa Italia titles and a Supercoppa Italiana. He scored 121 goals for the club and collected 521 appearances in all competitions during his twelve seasons with the team, and also served as the club's captain between 2014 and 2019; he became the club's all-time top goalscorer in 2017 (passing Diego Maradona), and the club's all-time appearance holder in 2018. In February 2019, Hamšík joined Chinese club Dalian Professional. He signed for Turkish side Trabzonspor in 2021, winning the Süper Lig title in his first season and the 2022 Turkish Super Cup in his second, before announcing his retirement in 2023.