Dries Mertens puts Napoli contract talks on hold

Napoli star Dries Mertens his having the best season of his career so far. Despite being a natural winger, Napoli boss Sarri has been using him as a classic centre forward after the injury of Arkadisuz Milik. Mertens has adapted to his new position pretty as he’s the current leading scorer in Serie A with 15 goals, one more than Gonzalo Higuain and Edin Dzeko.

The talented winger has become one of Europe’s most wanted players and both Liverpool and Everton had been linked with a move for the 29-year-old in the past.

Napoli has already reached an economic agreement for the contract extension of Mertens, but his recent performances with Napoli have convinced the player’s entourage to make a bigger salary request. Napoli are open to match the player’s requests but contract talks are still on hold as the Serie A side have not put any official offer in the table yet.

Napoli are in rush to find an agreement as the player’s contract expires in 2018 and the azzurri are planning to offer him a new contract with a release clause which could only be activated by European or Chinese clubs.