According to Spanish publication Sport, Barcelona are reported to be eyeing young Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik, who has played in Serie A since 2004 and joined Napoli from Brescia in 2007 for a fee in the region of €5.5 million.

Hamsik has scored 26 times in 86 league appearances, in the process attracting the interest of some of Europe’s top clubs, including the current UEFA Champions League holders.

The 22-year-old Slovakian international still has two and a half years to run on his current contract and with Slovakia set to compete at next summer’s World Cup in South Africa, the fee required to take Hamsik away from the Azzurri would be considerably more than the sum they stumped up two seasons ago.

Hamsik has impressed on the international stage so far, scoring twice in qualification as Vladimir Weiss’ outfit qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time.