Napoli forward Dries Mertens is reportedly close to signing a new contract with the Italian club. Fabrizio Romano reports that an agreement between the Belgian winger and his club is close, despite interest from Premier League side Chelsea.
Dries Mertens Close to Signing New Napoli Contract
The Deal
It is reported by Gianluca Di Marzio that Mertens accepted the offer of a new deal from Napoli once the club raised their price to that of what was offered by Serie A counterparts Inter Milan.
He is set to receive €4 million next season on top of a €2.5 million signing bonus, while the two-year deal will see him remain in Naples until the summer of 2022.
It seems that Mertens was always keen on staying with Napoli as he stalled in the talks with Inter. However, had he not been able to agree a deal with his current club, he would have been open to moving abroad.
Chelsea’s Interest
With Mertens’ Napoli contract running out, Chelsea have been circling for some time and were keen on trying to snap him up in the January transfer window.
Although that did not come to fruition, the club have remained keen on acquiring the 33-year-old, most likely as they could lose Brazilian winger Willian on a free transfer this summer.
Blues boss Frank Lampard has reportedly held personal discussions with Mertens in a bid to try and convince him to move to the English top-flight. However, with news of him agreeing to remain in Italy, it looks as though Chelsea will either need to turn their attention to another signing or do what they can to keep ahold of Willian.
There has been speculation that he could move across the capital to join Tottenham Hotspur, but in an interview with GloboEsporte, he dismissed this and said he was “surprised” at the rumours.
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