The coach of Chelsea football club Frank Lampard reportedly calls Belgian international Dries Mertens almost on a daily basis in order to lure him to leave Napoli for the Blues.
Chelsea has been in hot pursuit of the Napoli striker whose contract expires this summer. The football star reportedly turned down Frank Lampard’s team when the London club approached him in January.
But now, Chelsea has heightened their pursuit for Dries Mertens who is reportedly willing to leave the Italian Serie A club Napoli at the end of his contract.
The 32-year-old striker has scored 12 goals and made six assists in 29 games across all competitions in the interrupted 2019-2020 football season.
Mertens recently became Napoli’s all-time leading scorer when he netted his 121st goal, taking him above the club’s legend Marek Hamsik.
Frank Lampard is very interested in Dries Mertens
Italian transfer expert Vincenzo Morabito told Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli that Dries Mertens was initially unwilling to leave the Italian Serie A club, but Chelsea‘s coach Frank Lampard is very interested in him.
He said: “Mertens had originally said he wanted to stay at Napoli, but then his lawyer started offering him to various international clubs, meaning something changed between the player and the Azzurri.
“I know this because I was working on the Olivier Giroud issue when he was meant to leave Chelsea in January, with a lucrative contract lined up for Mertens.
“Chelsea has now extended Giroud’s contract as a precaution, but they are very interested in Mertens and Lampard is calling him almost every day. I can see Mertens going to Chelsea.”
If Dries Mertens’ deal scale through, it would provide more options for Frank Lampard going forward. Mertens would have to compete with Tammy Abraham, Olivier Giroud for a shirt which would be really intense for the 32-year-old striker.
All the same, since he would be a free agent during the summer, the Belgian would have a multiple of clubs to choose from besides Chelsea where regular football is not sure for him.
However, Frank Lampard has always said he needed to make more recruits especially in the striking department; hence, if he always calls Mertens as Morabito claimed, it means that the English coach has plans for the 32-year-old striker.
