Like Hamsik, Napoli could lose Mertens to China

26 feb 2019

Dries Mertens' future with Napoli is truly hanging in the balance. Mertens turns 32 in May and currently has a contract expiring in 2020 with the Neapolitan club. Proposals reportedly came last summer and during January to take Mertens, like his former Napoli teammate Marek Hamsik, to the Chinese Super League. However, Mertens remained in Naples for now.

However, in the summer, or before then, Mertens could well make a decision on his future. The Belgian forward has a €28m release clause in his contract for non-Italian clubs, yet said clause expires in June and, after that, it would be down to Napoli and De Laurentiis themselves to decide how much they would be willing to sell Mertens for.

Mertens currently earns around €4m a year but, if he were to move to China, the Belgian could see himself signing a multi-year deal worth €10-11m per season, earning over two and a half times more than what he is currently earning in Italy. For now, Mertens stays with Napoli but, in the future, Mertens could well join Hamsik in China.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} span.s1 {text-decoration: underline ; color: #dca10d}

For more news, views and features, visit our homepage.