Di Marzio: ‘Frank Lampard has spoken to the player’ – Chelsea appear to be closing in on Napoli star

Chelsea’s striker situation was a huge talking point in January. One name that cropped up towards the end of the window was Dries Mertens. The Belgian is out of contract at the end of this season, with no new deal in sight.

The Blues offered €10m, but Napoli were not interested in losing their talisman. Mertens himself was also keen to break the club’s goalscoring record. However, the Covid-19 outbreak appears to have put a stop to that dream.

Italian journalist, Gianluca Di Marzio has now shed some light on the 32-year-olds future. Taking on a question and answer session on Sky Sports, Di Marzio said:

“Now his contract is ending and, in this moment, he is not renewing with Napoli. The deal with Napoli is in a difficult way and I know Chelsea want him again.”

He added that Lampard has made contact with the player.

“They are talking to his representatives, Frank Lampard has spoken to the player and they are pushing forward to convince Mertens to accept their offer.”

Mertens would certainly offer something different. There are question marks over his age though. He turns 33 in a couple of weeks, and you have to question the clubs policy as far as contracts for the over-30s is concerned, especially with the Willian situation.

That’s not to say that Mertens would be a great option to offer competition to the current players at Lampard’s disposal.