Dries Mertens has become the joint top scorer in Napoli history. The Belgium international achieved the feat when he curled in superb effort against Barcelona in their round of 16 UEFA Champions league tie. The goal against Barcelona was his 121st for the club, taking him level with former captain Marek Hamsik.
Martens reached 121 goals in 310 appearances for the club taking him level with Hamsik who got 121 goals in 500 appearances. The duo has six more goals than club legend, Diego Maradona. Maradona, who won two league titles and one UEFA Cup with the club is regarded as the best player in the club’s history.
Mertens joined Napoli from PSV in 2013. He scored 13 goals in 47 appearances in his debut campaign in Stadio San Paolo. His finest season with the club was 2016-2017 season where he scored 34 goals across all competitions, as Napoli finished second behind Juventus in the league. He has 12 goals in 28 appearances so far this term.
Mertens will be out of contract at the end of the season and top clubs around Europe are ready to take him next summer.
Chelsea saw their €5 million bid rejected in January. The Blues were looking for more fire power upfront and they consider Marten as an ideal target. The Blues have struggled for goals in the campaign. Their last league match against Bournemouth ended 2-2.
The Blues two goals was scored by left back Marcos Alonso. Frank Lampard revealed after the game that he doesn’t want his left back to be his highest goal scorer. Top scorer Tammy Abraham is out with injury, and he is not expected to return till later in the month, while Mitchy Batshuayi has failed to impress the manager.