Dries Mertens has signed an extension of contract at Napoli, putting an end to the speculation that ties him with a move away from the club.
Mertens arrived back in 2013 in Naples and recently became the top goal scorer of the Azzurri when he scored his 122nd goal against Inter in the semi-final of Coppa Italia.
In the summer he looked set to leave Stadio San Paolo on a free transfer with the likes of Newcastle and Chelsea linked to a deal. However, this speculation was put to rest with the announcement by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis that he has signed an extension via his Twitter account.
Mertens is understood to be ‘quite convinced’ by the prospect of moving to Stamford Bridge but has made a U-turn, signing what is thought to be a three-year deal.
It’s unlikely the 33-year-old would have received a similar length deal with the Blues, as evidenced by their dispute over his new contract with 31-year-old Willian. Also in the forward team, Frank Lampard is already well equipped with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic who will be joined by new hires Timo Werner and next campaign Hakim Ziyech.
Mertens will now turn his attention to the imminent return of Serie A. Gennaro Gattuso ‘s side with a trip to Hellas Verona to restart their campaign and have plenty of ground to make up if they want to qualify for Europe.
Napoli is currently sitting in sixth place, with a surprise package Atalanta drifting nine points in fourth place, who also have a game in hand.
