Why Marek Hamsik Will Remain in Napoli Fans' Hearts Despite Expected CSL Move
Legend is a word in football that gets bandied about too easily but Marek Hamsik is undoubtedly a Napoli legend.
The Slovakian arrived in Naples back in 2007 and has become their record appearance maker with over 500 games for the club - he is also Napoli's record goalscorer with 121 goals as well as providing 111 assists.
He has won three trophies during his time at Napoli lifting the Coppa Italia twice and the Supercoppa Italiana. What has eluded him is the Serie A title which has been won by either the Milanese sides or Juventus.
Hamsik has been an ever-present in the Napoli side for over a decade and has represented loyalty in a period of football when big players often move on for money or to join one of the biggest teams in the world.
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One of Europe's finest midfielders, Hamsik has often been linked with moves away from Napoli with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, who have all tried to tempt him to the Premier League. Hamsik has stayed loyal to the Neapolitans and watched the likes of Edinson Cavani, Gonzalo Higuain and Jorginho move on.
The Napoli captain was famously part of the 'Three Tenors' with Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani. Hamsik wasn't perhaps the best of the three or the player who gained the headlines but he was the only one who remained at the club when Lavezzi and Cavani both left in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
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It's Hamsik dedication which endeared him so much to the Napoli fans.
This began when he first signed for the club, as he explained in The Players Tribune: "When I was looking for my first house in the city, just a few days after I had signed my contract, it seemed that everyone I met already knew my name and my story.
"I couldn’t believe it. That love I felt in Brescia was almost nothing compared to the passion of Napoli fans. In Brescia, I was just a young boy who nobody really knew. But in Naples, I couldn’t get a coffee without meeting a Napoli fan.
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"Football is important to me, and to be able to play for Napoli for ten years has been one of the greatest honors of my life. But the reason I have stayed so long is about more than football. In Naples, I am part of community - a family - that holds a very special place in my heart. I need to have more than just a paycheck and trophies. I need to feel something in my soul.
"Naples gave me that, and I am forever grateful."
Not only has he been popular in Naples, it looks like Serie A is saying goodbye to a legend of the game and his famous mohawk.
