Dries Mertens said goodbye to Napoli and is now edging closer to a transfer for Turkish club Galatasaray.
He is a free agent after failing to agree a new contract with the Partenopei and yesterday released a touching video message for the fans.
The 35-year-old is therefore seeking the next step in his career and Sportitalia transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà maintains that will be Galatasaray.
Fanatik and Sky Sport Italia confirmed over the last few days that Mertens had received a lucrative proposal from Galatasaray.
More details are emerging, with a proposal worth €3.5-4m per season.
Mertens did state in his video message that he will keep hold of his house in the Bay of Naples, so it’s possible his wife and their new-born son Ciro will remain living there if Dries does play for Galatasaray.
He was approached by Juventus and Lazio too, but would not play for another Serie A side against his beloved Napoli.
Olympique Marseille was another potential option for the Belgium international.
I cannot believe Napoli is going to let him go over a €1.1m difference, especially after letting both Insigne and Koulibaly leave. His presence would give the team leadership and boost both the team and fans morale. That isn’t even considering the fact that he is still productive. I think this decision is going to haunt Napoli and ADL as Mertens could be the difference between finishing 4th vs 7th this year. The millions they are about to lose by falling in the standings and then missing champions league on top of that is absurd.
At the end it was money, money, money for Mertens. Good riddance.
Naples 15.
I very happily agree with you. Losing Koulibaly, Insigne, Mertens and even Ospina amounts to not just talent lost, but a hell of a lot of experience going out of the door at once as well. Mertens still scored 11 goals last season.
Now though he can go off into the sunset, wake up to enjoy Turkish coffee and baklava every morning. Even Balotelli managed to score there, so I’m sure he’ll do just fine.