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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Darren Lewis

Chelsea to launch last-ditch attempt to seal Dries Mertens transfer from Napoli

Chelsea will launch one last attempt to sign Napoli forward Dries Mertens.

The west Londoners have already had an approach rejected by the Italian club who insist they do not want to let him go - even though he is out of contract at the end of the season.

But Chelsea believe they could yet make an offer that Napoli cannot refuse.

The Blues also have PSG striker Edinson Cavani as a fall-back option after Atletico Madrid cooled their interest in the Uruguayan on Thursday.

Olivier Giroud is still available after seeing a number of potential moves fall through but Napoli have so far refused the chance to take him.

Mertens is a legend in Naples having scored 118 goals for Napoli since joining from PSV Eindhoven in 2013.

Mertens could be tempted to leave Napoli (Getty Images)

The Belgian's tally places him second in the club's all-time top scorers list behind his former teammate Marek Hamsik and ahead of Diego Maradona in third.

Mertens is just three strikes away from equalling Hamsik's tally of 121, but the offer of a new challenge in west London could tempt the 32-year-old to move away from the club and the Premier League before the closure of the transfer window.

Lampard admitted that new additions could be possible after the FA Cup win over Hull City at the weekend.

"My job is to work every day on the training ground to make the players better," he said.

Lampard is known to want an experienced forward (Clive Mason)

"The other part is looking at how we can move forward by bringing in players.

"We lost ground last summer and we need to make moves now to take us forward.

"I have a strong feeling of where we can improve personnel-wise to take us forward.

"So for me it’s clear. The money of it is not my job but I have to be honest and truthful. Short-term recruitment is something we have to get right."

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