Arsenal and Tottenham have Napoli star Dries Mertens ‘in their sights’ this summer as the Serie A side push to get him out of the club.
That’s according to Voetbal 24, who cover reports from Italy about Mertens’ future at Napoli, or lack of it.
They explain that recent reports in Italy have explained how, despite signing a new deal last summer, Napoli are keen to get rid of the forward this summer.
They feel the Belgian weighs too heavily on the budget, and so they ‘absolutely want’ to get him off the books and free up some funds.
That has some as something of a hammer blow for Mertens, who is still happy in Naples and with his current club.
He’s been left surprised by the turn of events, and if he had things his own way, he could see out the rest of his contract and stay, but his fate is not in his own hands.
A move is looking likely, but he ‘doesn’t need to despair’ yet because there are ‘top teams ready to make a move for him.
Indeed there are three in the Premier League alone, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham all said to have the Red Devil ‘in their sights’.
Now there’s no mention of a bid or anything of that nature at this point, but Voetbal 24 do say that Mertens ‘seems to make a big transfer anyway’, which suggests they think there will be movement at some point.
A move would certainly make sense for either Arsenal, given Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s indifferent form and the numerous reports that the club are keen to sell Alexandre Lacazette.
Tottenham could also do with offensive reinforcements, particularly if Harry Kane pushes to leave, so there’s logic in them being linked too.
For now, though, there’s not much in this rumour, so we’ll take it with a pinch of salt and wait to see if things develop before getting excited.
