Stanislav Lobotka

Stanislav Lobotka (born 25 November 1994) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Napoli and the Slovakia national team.

AS Trenčín
Lobotka made his Corgoň Liga debut for AS Trenčín against FK Dukla Banská Bystrica on 4 March 2012.

Ajax (loan)
Lobotka joined AFC Ajax for the 2013–14 season on 30 June 2013 on a one-year loan with option to buy. He played his first match for Ajax on 13 July 2013 in a pre-season friendly encounter against RKC Waalwijk. He came on as a 60th minute substitute for Christian Eriksen in the 5–1 win in Waalwijk at the Mandemakers Stadion.

Nordsjælland
Stanislav Lobotka came to FC Nordsjælland in August shortly before the transfer window closed, and made his debut against Brøndby on 30 August 2015. Lobotka entered as a regular on the midfield, and in his first season has played all the matches except for one because of illness.

The 21-year-old Slovak was voted player of the year in his first season at the FCN Awards. In 2017, he was again voted club's player of the year after another great season.

Celta Vigo
On 15 July 2017, Lobotka joined Celta on a five-year deal.

On 3 June 2019, Lobotka admitted that after Celta's unsuccessful season, he was open to a transfer, looking to find a club set to play in European competitions next season. According to Pravda, Lobotka also claimed that he was aware of an interest from other Spanish and German clubs.

Napoli
On 15 January 2020, Lobotka signed to Italian Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli, for a reported €24m deal until 2024.

On 18 January 2020, Lobotka was benched in his first possible fixture against Fiorentina in a 0–2 defeat. Instead, he made a brief, 22-minute appearance in the 2019–20 Coppa Italia against Lazio, being featured in the starting line-up. Lobotka had to be replaced early due to tactical changes following a red card to Elseid Hysaj, but witnessed an early winning goal by Lorenzo Insigne in the second minute.

Lobotka made his league debut against table-leaders Juventus on 26 January 2020. He came on as a replacement for Diego Demme, who was booked with a yellow card in the first half. Napoli managed to earn an upset victory over the favourites, by winning 2–1, with goals scored by Piotr Zieliński and Lorenzo Insigne. Cristiano Ronaldo's stoppage time goal did not change the result. He had his first league start in the next round, in a 4–2 away victory at Stadio Luigi Ferraris against Sampdoria. Lobotka played for over an hour and was replaced by Diego Demme, as Napoli led 2–1, after goals by Arkadiusz Milik and Elif Elmas. Demme went on to score the third goal and Dries Mertens sealed the win in stoppage time.

Lobotka had also been added to Napoli's UEFA Champions League squad, thus making him eligible to participate in the Round of 16 fixtures against Barcelona. The first competitive set of fixtures between the clubs was also dubbed by the Maradona derby.

International career
Having represented various youth Slovak teams, Lobotka was called up to the senior Slovakia squad for matches against Lithuania and Austria. On 15 November 2016, he debuted in the latter friendly match alongside Matúš Bero and Albert Rusnák.

Later, Lobotka was called up to multiple fixtures, but had to wait for his competitive debut until 1 September 2017, for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Slovenia. He played the entire match being a valuable midfielder, fulfilling the expectations following the successful performances of Lobotka and Slovakia U21 at the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, as well as his move to Celta Vigo. His performance contributed to Slovakia's 1-0 home victory.

On 4 September 2017, Lobotka scored his first international goal for the Slovak senior team, becoming the first to score at Wembley, in a qualifier against England. He scored after he tackled and took the ball from Marcus Rashford and exchanged a pass with Adam Nemec, before beating Joe Hart in the 3rd minute of the match. However, Slovakia went on to lose the game 1-2, after goals by Eric Dier and Rashford. The 8th game of the campaign was a direct battle for the 1st place in qualifying Group F. Similarly, like after the previous game, Lobotka received praise for his performance. By the end of the year, he scored again in a friendly match against Norway in the 93rd minute, providing Slovakia a 1-0 victory in a final international game of Ján Ďurica.

Lobotka was included in the 26-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2024. He went on to win the Man of the Match in the opening fixture win by 1–0 against Belgium.

International

 * Slovakia's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lobotka goal.

Honours
AS Trenčín
 * Fortuna Liga: 2014–15
 * Slovnaft Cup: 2014–15

Napoli
 * Serie A: 2022–23
 * Coppa Italia: 2019–20

Slovakia
 * King's Cup: 2018

Individual
 * Slovak Footballer of the Year: Fan Award: 2022
 * Slovak Footballer of the Year: 2023, 2024
 * Serie A Team of the Year: 2022–23