Lobotka began kicking the ball around as soon as he entered first grade in 2001. Under the watchful eyes of Jozef Kyjac and Peter Bac, he laid the foundation for a career that today makes the eyes of Parthenopean fans shine. It was not an easy path: in a small Slovak village, with no separate youth teams, little Stanislav was competing with much older boys.
Imagine a small suburban field, with somewhat peeling grass and a group of kids of all ages running after a ball. This is where Stanislav Lobotka took his first steps, in 2001, joining the local club as a freshman in elementary school. Jozef Kyjac, his first coach, still remembers him with a smile:
“From the very beginning, he had to establish himself among the older ones. In our village, there were no teams divided by age: from freshmen to eighth graders, they all played together. We were happy if we could set up a starting eleven with a few reserves.”
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But Lobotka was not one to get lost in the fray.
“We knew from the first moment that she was special. He never backed down, he had an uncommon talent.”
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In that simple, almost movie-like setting, little Stanislav was already showing the ball control and game vision that today make him a mainstay of Conte’s Napoli. He was the classic Slovakian “scugnizzo,” a little boy who ran with the ball as if it were an extension of his body, dreaming of a dizzying future that, step by step, would come true.
We come to the moment of the leap: after a few loan experiences, Lobotka is finally traded in his teens, a move that marks the beginning of his ascent. But here a curious backstory comes into play, recounted by Jozef Kyjac with a hint of irony:
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“After Stan’s transfer, a misconception spread in our area. They said we had hit the jackpot, that we had filled our pockets. The truth? The only money we saw was when he officially moved in: about 4,000 euros. We added 2,000 of our own to it and bought a new lawnmower!”
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More than millions: the sale of Lobotka, now worth gold to Napoli, earned his first club a lawnmower to keep the field in order. It’s a story that smacks of old-time soccer, when dreams were built with little and talent was enough to make a difference. From there, Stanislav took off: AS Trenčín, Nordsjælland, Celta Vigo, and finally Napoli in 2020, where he became an irreplaceable pivot.
