Dries Mertens has scored an incredible 19 goals this season and has a £30m release clause, so who is the Napoli star and where could he end up?
Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku... Mertens is now up there with Belgian's finest
EDEN HAZARD, Kevin De Bruyne … Dries Mertens? It is time to utter the Napoli forward’s name in the same breath as any Belgian superstar after a simply stellar start to the season.
The 29-year-old, who had scored as many goals as £75million man Gonzalo Higuain in Italy this term, has been tied into a new bumper contract which includes a unique staggered release clause.
Mertens will be available to any European club for £30m, but offers from the cash-rich Chinese Super League will have to reach a higher figure of £43m.
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However, reports claim the man himself is ready to snub interest from Inter Milan for a "dream" move to the Premier League.
has taken a look at why exactly Mertens was named Belgium’s Player of the Year last month and has justified his unusual deal.
It has become commonplace for Italian sides to guard against having their rivals snatch away their brightest stars by ensuring that the release clauses in their players’ contracts are only valid to clubs outside of Serie A.
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For example, Napoli were powerless to prevent champions Juventus from stealing away Higuain last summer – albeit for an eye-watering fee.
But when negotiating a new contract with rising star and Arsenal target Andrea Belotti, Torino ensured that his £86m buyout clause could only be triggered by teams from outside of the Peninsula.
Mertens’ double clause, which essentially ensures that any Chinese side must pay over the odds to land the player, is a first.
Clubs from the wealthy Asian division have caused ripples in Europe recently, with Chelsea’s Oscar and Zenit St Petersburg’s Axel Witsel the latest examples to be tempted by the cash on offer.
The clause in Mertens’ contract acknowledges that in Europe, £30m for a 29-year-old would be considered a hefty fee – no matter his form – whereas a Chinese side would likely not bat an eyelid in paying such a sum.
Napoli have guarded themselves against the possibility of their Belgian forward being snatched away to China by ensuring that any Super League club has to go above and beyond to do so.
So what has Mertens done to warrant such special treatment?
Well, the former PSV winger has been in scintillating form for the Partenopei this season, and it’s fair to say that his goal-scoring exploits have surprised many onlookers.
He was previously regarded as a back-up option on the wing, with the likes of Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon preferred by manager Maurizio Sarri in the wide berths.
But Mertens was utilised as an emergency centre-forward when summer signing Arkadiusz Milik was ruled out with a serious knee injury earlier this season.
And he hasn’t looked back since, registering 16 goals and two assists in 1576 minutes of action, meaning he has been directly involved in a goal every 87.5 minutes on average.
In Napoli’s 5-3 win over Torino last month, Mertens bagged four goals including a goal-of-the-season contender which saw him chip on-loan England goalkeeper Joe Hart from inside the penalty area.
Even as a winger, Mertens always appeared to have the requisite attributes to succeed as a striker: pace to burn, a knack of timing runs in behind the opposition’s defence and a confident finisher.
Standing at 5ft 7in, he is not going to thrive through the centre in every system, but his years of acting as the supply line to Higuain has given him an appreciation of how to bring the entire attack into play.
He uses intelligent movement to create space for supporting midfielders, while also looking to pick out a colleague if they are in a better scoring position.
With a pass accuracy of 76.5 percent, a shot accuracy of 44.9 percent and having created 30 chances this term, Mertens is proving to be the ideal all-round striker for Sarri’s fluid, attacking system.
Milik is set to return from injury next month but the £30million Polish international will find it extremely difficult to reclaim his place in Napoli’s starting XI. He may have been a short-term fix to begin with, but Mertens – depending on his whopping buyout fee – is here to stay.