Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has confirmed he will not be making any more contract offers to club legend Dries Mertens.
The revelation was made during an interview with Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli, which will be released in full tonight, but reports from the recording suggest De Laurentiis closed the door on any more Mertens talks.
The 35-year-old is the all-time top scorer in the Napoli jersey with 148 goals in 397 competitive matches, along with 90 assists.
He had been in Naples since leaving PSV Eindhoven in 2013 and his contract ran out on June 30, but he had still been in negotiations with the club to work out a new deal.
De Laurentiis was already caught on camera this week telling a fan that he had made several offers to Mertens, first at €1.4m, going up to €2.5m per season net, but that the Belgian had refused.
The contract he had been on until June 30 was worth €4.5m per season and Napoli did not take up their option to extend.
Lazio now seem the likeliest destination, where Mertens can reunite with former Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri.
With these salary demands there is no way Lazio signs him. 35 years old and this kind of footballers think they are worthy of 4.5 millions per year. Unreal.
confirming you have made your final offer and confirming he has left the club are different things
In fact, even if they were still talking, he has actually left the club anyway as his contract has already expired
However, if Mertens accepts their last offer then he will come back to Napoli
This comment from ADL doesn’t confirm he will play elsewhere next season, only that the final offer has been made
I still think the most likely outcome is that he accepts that, rather than moving to another club
Good observation Tony. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
Napoli need to rebuild and everyone has their day.
35 yo is often the only ones worth 4,5m as you get them for 1 season on a free transfer.
However, Mertens will have a 2+1 year contract in Lazio for around 3m.
He was asking for 4,5m in Napoli, he would probably have accepted something around 3m, but Napolis offers were insultingly low.
Now Lazio needs to get rid of more players before he can be signed. The wage is the issue, but we can afford 3m for Mertens, when Acerbi has been sold.