'I was linked with stunning Man Utd transfer - but I quit football to work on a farm'

View 3 Images

Marek Hamsik once contemplated becoming a Manchester United player before turning to farm life. The Napoli icon - who is the club's record appearance-maker with 520 games under his belt, spent 12 years of his career in Naples from 2007 to 2019.

The Slovenian football great enjoyed stints with Dalian Professional, IFK Goteborg and Trabzonspor, before hanging up his boots in 2023. While he immediately got his managerial career underway as the assistant coach of the Slovenia national team, he also opted for a non-football career upon the end of his playing days.

The 38-year-old runs a small farm in his home alongside his wife, Martina, and their three children with the family residing in Badin, near to Hamsik 's hometown of Banska Bystrica. While the mansion features a swimming pool, a playground and pool, the construction of a chicken coop was completed in April 2023.

Speaking to Sport24.sk , the ex-footballer's wife discussed their new career path as she said: "It's a relatively new hobby for us. It all started in April 2023 during Easter when we ordered eggs to incubate, which later hatched into chicks. During that time, we managed to build a chicken coop."

Hamsik revealed that the family had added considerable features to the coop as he explained: "The coop is custom-made with everything that entails. It's more like a hotel for chickens, with heating and ventilation incorporated, but also with automatic doors that open in the morning so we don't have to get up to check on them.

"We try to make the chickens happy and ourselves too. So far we have 29 and they lay about two dozen eggs a day. We have plenty, and I'm already thinking of opening a shop," the Naples great joked.

It's not just chickens that are under the responsibility of the family as they're also taking care of ferrets, turtles, guinea pigs, dogs and cats in their home zoo. Talking about their love of animals, Hamsik added: "In general, Martina is a great animal lover and she passed that on to the whole family. If we could, we'd have an animal shelter or a small zoo at home, although we already have one."

View 3 Images

Hamsik enjoyed a stellar career and part of the deep reverence he possesses in Naples is thanks to the loyalty he showed the club and its fans when courted by big clubs during the peak of his powers.

The Red Devils were routinely linked with Hamsik, who in 2018 admitted he could consider making the move to Old Trafford. In an interview with Kicker , when he was just two goals away from equalling Diego Maradona's then-club record 115 goals, he said: "It would definitely be the hardest decision in my career.

View 3 Images

"Maybe everyone wants to play at these clubs, but I can't answer that. I think that Napoli are one of the top 10 European teams in terms of game play and performance.

"As a footballer, it's hard because you never know what comes next. I've still got a long time to go on my contract and I cannot see into the future. I'm not thinking about leaving Naples."

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.