Dries Mertens has officially bid farewell to Napoli and is now deciding which club to play for next, turning down a number of offers.
The 35-year-old Belgian forward left the Partenopei after nine years earlier this month and last week his departure was officially confirmed, ruling out the possibility of a new contract. Mertens has been heavily linked with a move to Lazio for a while now, with Maurizio Sarri reportedly keen on being re-united with him.
As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport (via LazioNews24), Mertens has decided not to accept any offers from Italy as he doesn’t want to play against Napoli. He’s also rejected bids from both Qatar and Saudi Arabia, preferring a strong project in Europe instead.
The Belgian forward is keen to take part in the upcoming World Cup in Qatar and so wants to impress in the run-up to the competition.
His decision to look abroad totally rules out a move to Lazio, forcing the Roman club to look elsewhere if they still want to pick up a new forward this summer.