Dries Mertens may well be staying at Napoli after reports the club is prepared to offer him a new contract, albeit with a massive pay cut.
The veteran’s current deal is due to expire on June 30 and there is an option to automatically extend for one more year, but multiple sources have for many months reported Napoli didn’t want to activate it.
However, things appear to have changed, with the club’s official radio station Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli reporting today that Mertens is being offered a new deal.
The salary would be worth €1-1.5m plus performance-related bonuses and include a clause to extend for another season after that.
It’d be a huge cut from his current wages of €4m per season.
It seems that his recent form and the bond he shares with the fans, which only intensified after the birth of his son Ciro, convinced the club to keep him on.
Another important element that helped sway the decision in his direction is the fact Mertens does not have an agent, so there will be no expensive commission to be negotiated.
The Belgium international turns 35 next month and has been at the club since 2013, becoming their all-time top scorer with 145 goals in 391 competitive games.
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Finally something logical coming out of Napoli. Mertens can still play at a high level and he said he’d be willing to take a pay cut. Having him for at least one more season at a reduced rate will be huge for Napoli.