With Dries Mertens in a contractual limbo and Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri hot on his ex-player’s trail to lure him to the Stadio Olimpico, Napoli have already begun shortlisting candidates to replace the Belgian veteran, such as Gerard Deulofeu.
According to the Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport (via TuttoNapoli), the Partenopei have the Udinese forward in their sights to take Mertens’ place. The Barcelona youth product is set to leave Udine after his agent Albert Botines declared his impending departure in a comment on Radio Marte.
“We’ve had an agreement with Udinese since the start of the season, and he will leave the club in the summer. I don’t like to mention other teams. I can say that Napoli are a top club and that he would surely be happy to go there. I think that Napoli would be a great option for him. The transfer window will begin soon and many clubs have already asked for information.” (via Tribal Football)
The 28-year-old has a transfermarkt value of €10M. It is understood that Udinese will entertain offers in the region of €15-20M. The highly versatile forward sees his contract expire in the summer of 2024, leaving ample space for negotiations to go either way.
Deulofeu has starred in two seasons for the Friulani, notching 15 goals in 50 appearances, with the 2021-22 campaign being the most prolific – goalscoring wise – of his senior career so far, as he has hit the net 13 times in 35 appearances. He has also provided five assists.