Chelsea are set to make their second transfer bid for Napoli forward Dries Mertens this summer after the Belgian backtracked on signing a new deal with his current team.
The Belgian was the subject of concrete interest from the London side back in January, but a move failed to happen.
Blues chiefs have now been handed encouragement in their hopes of landing the 32-year-old on a free transfer in the summer, with his current deal with the club set to expire in June.
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Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the coronavirus outbreak stopped Mertens from putting pen to paper on a new £6.3m-a-year contract.
The report adds that there is now no certainty over whether the winger wants to stay at Napoli.
According to the Mail, Chelsea could be among the teams open to acquiring him for nothing, with Mertens aware of bigger wages plus a large signing-on fee if he eventually moves to the Premier League.
The former PSV Eindhoven forward is a hero in Naples, as he overtook the club legend and all-time leading scorer Marek Hamsik’s 121 goal haul for the team last month.
His ambition to overtake Hamsik’s record is thought to have been one of the major factors behind a January transfer move to Chelsea failing to come to fruition.
Frank Lampard has already wrapped up a £38million deal for Ajax attacker Hakim Ziyech ahead of what is shaping up to be a very busy summer at Stamford Bridge.
Willian, Pedro and Olivier Giroud are all set to leave the blues at the end of their contracts this summer window.
While N’Golo Kante has also been linked with a transfer to Real Madrid after an injury-hit campaign.
