Chelsea look set to be on a transfer spree this summer, however that won’t be including Dries Mertens.
Frank Lampard had been keen to bring in the Belgian in January and he had been the number one target.
However, Chelsea failed to bring in the 33-year-old from Napoli and they won’t be likely to do so this summer.
The Napoli forward had been set to leave the club in the coming months with his contract with the Serie A club coming to an end at the climax of the 2019/20 campaign.
Mertens was looking unlikely to sign a new deal with the side, however has done a U-turn on that decision and has now put pen to paper on a brand new contract.
The forward has just become Napoli’s record goalscorer and has signed a deal which will keep him at the club until 2022.
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis posted a photo of Mertens and his representatives with the caption: "Happy to be together for a long time. Long live Dries!"
That has now ended any discussion of Mertens exiting the Stadio San Paolo in the summer, despite his game time having deteriorated.
Lampard was very keen on bringing in a more prolific goalscorer to end the 2019/20 in January, and with Mertens being in the last year of his deal he would have been a cheap option.
However, it appears that the Blues have moved on from the Belgian and are looking to spend big this summer.
In February they secured the signing of Hakim Ziyech, while they are also on the verge of bringing in Timo Werner from RB Leipzig.
Meanwhile, they are still in the race for Kai Havertz and are looking for a left-back to come in and replace Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri.
It could be a pivotal summer for the Blues, having had the transfer ban last season and failing to make any signings in January as well.
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