Chelsea's hopes of signing Belgian international Dries Mertens in the next transfer window have been wrecked after the striker agreed to sign a new contract with Napoli.
According to a report by Sky Italy, via Sky Sports, the 33-year-old, after a successful round of talks with the Serie A club, has agreed to extend his contract with the club for a further two years, meaning he will remain at the Stadio San Paolo until at least the summer of 2022.
Chelsea had been long-term admirers of the striker, who has been on Napoli's books since 2013, signing from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, and did hold talks about possibly bringing him to Stamford Bridge back in January, as the Blues looked to try and seal a cut-price transfer for the forward as he entered the final six months of his contract.
But after failing to pull off a deal for Mertens right at the end of the January window, Chelsea continued to keep a close eye on the striker, with one report claiming that Blues head coach Frank Lampard, who will be desperate to bolster his attacking options by the time the next transfer window opens, was still keen on concluding a deal this summer.
Now, though, Lampard's hopes of adding Mertens to his armoury ahead of next season have been dashed, with the Belgium international, who would have been hoping to represent his country at this summer's European Championships, had they gone ahead as planned and not been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The news of Mertens agreeing to put pen to paper on a new deal in Naples will not only come as a blow to Chelsea, as Inter Milan - one of Napoli's biggest rivals in Italian football - were also keen on landing the former FC Utrecht man.
According to the report by Sky Italia, Mertens was only keen to play for one club if he was to stay in Italy and that was, indeed, Napoli. Manager Gennaro Gattuso was persistent in his efforts to persuade Mertens to sign a new deal, with the former Italy international, who took over as manager at the Stadio San Paolo back in December, desperate to keep hold of the striker, who is the club's joint-top scorer in their history.
Prior to the suspension of the Serie A campaign back in March, the striker had scored six goals in 21 league appearances this season, but had netted a very impressive six times in just seven Champions League matches.
Since joining the Italian outfit back in 2013, Mertens has racked up a total of 311 appearances for the club, scoring 121 times and registering 73 assists.
Napoli have yet to make an official announcement on Mertens signing a new contract.
