Back in December, a bit of information emerged in Il Mattino that a Chelsea director had met with Dries Mertens’ representatives regarding a possible transfer to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
At the time, it was all part of the ‘will Mertens renew at Napoli, will he not?’ saga, and clearly seen as one of many stories about the player being published, even if a transfer to the Premier League looked a real possibility.
Since then, Mertenes agreed to renew his contract at Napoli, putting an end to the transfer rumours, but now on international duty with Belgium for the upcoming friendlies, the 30-year-old revealed the interest from Chelsea was real, as was an approach from Barcelona.
He told Het Laatste Nieuws: “There were indeed very beautiful offers. There was a lot of interest in me. That is also logical for a player who has only one year left on his contract. Then, there’s always interest. There were indeed very nice offers, but I wanted to stay at Napoli, and that’s how it worked.
“There were other clubs interested, yes. Very nice clubs. You can go there to sit on the bench, which can also be very good. But I’m playing on the pitch for Napoli now and I’m feeling good.”
‘Feeling good’ is a bit of an understatement considering the season the Belgium international has just had with the Serie A club.
Helping his side finish third in the league, guaranteeing a spot in the Champions League qualifiers for next year, the forward scored 34 goals and provided 15 assists in 46 games in all competitions.
With a rumoured release clause in his new deal, if he performs like that next season, those ‘beautiful offers’ he just talked about might still be there, and clubs could get a bargain, even if he will be 31 by then.
