David Hancko (born 13 December 1997) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for Eredivisie club Feyenoord and the Slovakia national team.
Hancko made his Slovak Super Liga debut for Zilina against ZP Sport Podrbezova on 12 March 2016. He was included by UEFA on its list of most promising talents for 2018.
On 14 June 2018, Hancko had signed a five-year contract with Fiorentina. He played in multiple friendly pre-season fixtures, but made his competitive debut on 22 September 2018, after being benched for four matches, during a 3–0 home victory over SPAL, coming as a substitute for Cristiano Biraghi at half time. His performance was generally well-received, receiving an average mark of 7.0/10 by the Sofascore internet portal.
During January 2019 transfer window, it was reported that Zenit Saint Peterburg were looking to sign Hancko on a half-season loan, for €500,000, with an option to buy for €20 million. At this point, Hancko had only started as a substitute in two Serie A games, but was important for the national team in October and November fixtures of UEFA Nations League. Nonetheless, Fiorentina did not agree to the terms of the deal.
After failing to make a significant impact in Fiorentina, Hancko was out on loan to AC Sparta Prague. The loan was made permanent on 6 June 2021. On 31 July 2022, in a 2–1 home loss against Slovan Liberec, Hancko made his 100th appearance for Sparta Prague.
On 22 August 2022, Hancko joined Feyenoord for 6m euros, signing a four-year contract. He debuted five days later against FC Emmen, and provided the assist which enabled Quinten Timber to score the first goal in a 4–0 win for Feyenoord.
On 2 October 2018, shortly after his debut in Serie A, Hancko was called Slovakia's senior national team by coach Jan Kozak for matches against the Czech Republic (a part of 2018–19 UEFA Nations League) and a friendly match against Sweden. Hancko debuted in the former match, coming as a substitute to left-back Tomas Hubocan in the 80th minute.
After the international retirement of Tomas Hubocan in February 2019, Hancko was nominated as the preferred choice as a left-back, playing the entirety of a qualifying match against Hungary on 21 March 2019. As in previous matches, Hancko presented himself with a quite offensive football, at times playing in the line with attacking midfielders. |
