Dries Mertens is now a free agent after his contract expired with Napoli last week but he’s desperate to stay with his beloved club.
The Belgian forward joined the Partenopei in the summer of 2013 from PSV and he went on to become the club’s all-time top scorer after netting 148 goals across all competitions, overtaking club legends like Diego Maradona and Marek Hamsik. Although he’s 35, he’s clearly able to still impress in Serie A and last campaign he netted 11 goals in 30 league games.
As reported by Gianluca Di Marzio, Mertens does not want to find a new club following his contract expiry and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to stay with Napoli. He’s willing to lower his salary by around €500,000 net per year in order to convince the Campania side to offer him a new deal.
It’s clear that Aurelio De Laurentiis wants to lower the club’s wage bill this summer, as seen with the Kalidou Koulibaly situation, so Mertens’ gesture could be the difference maker here.
For the time being, the 35-year-old is rejecting all offers from other teams and the only concrete alternative appears to be a move to Royal Antwerp.