Dries Mertens To Snub Interest From Other Clubs By Signing A New Contract With Napoli
REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
Dries Mertens is set to fend off any interest from Manchester United by signing a new contract and extending his stay at Stadio San Paolo.
Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has indicated that the Belgian is ready to put pen to paper to extend his current contract. Manchester United, who have been heavily linked with the prolific attacker all season, will now need to shift their focus onto other potential signings.
Jose Mourinho is looking at a number of world-class attackers to give Manchester United the much needed cutting edge. The summer plans of the Portuguese had Mertens as one of the possible recruits, but it seems that he will now have to look somewhere else in the light of recent developments.
Talking to Corriere dello Sport (via talkSPORT), De Laurentiis said: “I believe that we are close and therefore the signature should arrive shortly. Let’s just say that in a week we should achieve what we have been talking about.”
The confidence shown by the Napoli President sure brings bad news for all the interested parties, viz. Premier League clubs Manchester United and West Ham United, along with Italian outfit Inter Milan.
Interest in Mertens is no shocker, as the striker-turned-winger has been scintillating in the Serie A so far, where he has already scored 24 goals and bagged 6 assists.
Having found the form of his life so late in his career, the 30-year-old Belgian international is an epitome of the term “late bloomer”.
Written by Shorya Panwar 
Has 20+ years of experience managing Schalke in Football Manager 2017. Believes wing-backs are the most complete footballers in the modern/evolved football. Writes weird stuff on his personal blog.