Glow ! A world star on the way to Marseille?
OM Mercato: While Alexis Sanchez is studying the offer of Pablo Longoria, another world star could soon join Olympique de Marseille.
OM Mercato: Pablo Longoria does not let go of the case for a Napoli star
While the Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez is not insensitive to the interest of Olympique de Marseille, another world star could also land in the Marseille city this summer. Especially since the Marseille management would keep getting rid of Bamba Dieng by August 31. After nine years of good and loyal service in Serie A, Dries Mertens leaves SSC Napoli. As expected, the Italian club formalized the departure of the Belgian striker this Sunday. At the end of the contract on June 30, the 35-year-old failed to reach an agreement with his leaders for an extension.
Crowned with the title of top scorer in the history of the Neapolitan club, the compatriot ofEden Hazard leaves Italy with a record of 148 goals scored and 90 assists in 397 matches in all competitions. Eager to offer Igor Tudor a team capable of going far in the Champions League next season, Pablo Longoria would be interested in Mertens. According to Calciomercato, the possibility of forming a duo with Alexis Sanches and reuniting with his former partner Arkadiusz Milik could convince the former PSV Eindhoven winger to accept the offer from Olympique de Marseille. For his part, the president of the Partenopei had already said goodbye to the player on Saturday evening.
OM Mercato: Dries Mertens does not extend his contract
In a long interview with Radio Kiss Kiss, Aurelio De Laurentiis confirmed the departure of Dries Mertens after refusing to sign a new lease on the basis of a salary of 4.5 million euros annually. The native of Leuven will therefore pack his bags and go to showcase his talent elsewhere.
“I offered him €4.5m gross per season and he refused. So I said thank you very much to you, to your son Ciro, to your wife, for everything you have done here and the extraordinary goals scored, but we cannot go beyond our capabilities. I need to have money to buy young players who could represent Napoli in future seasons. When we changed all the older players to bring in the likes of Mertens and Koulibaly, the fans were dubious, but they became champions here.”explained in particular the Italian businessman.
It remains to be seen whether OM will be able to beat competition from Lazio Rome in order to afford the services of Dries Mertens.