Dries Mertens 'Interested' in Moving to London as Chelsea Remain Keen on Deal

Napoli forward Dries Mertens is understood to be keen on moving to London, with Chelsea interested in striking a deal to sign the Belgian this summer.

Mertens' current contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and despite contract talks being opened and rumours suggesting a fresh deal was all but signed, there have been no developments and Mertens is still set to become a free agent when all is said and done.

Chelsea have been tracking the 32-year-old since January and are still interested in landing him on a free, and the Daily Mail suggest that the feeling could be mutual as Mertens is intrigued by the idea of moving to London.

Blues boss Frank Lampard is on the lookout for a new striker and a new winger this summer, and Mertens' ability to play in both positions has made him an attractive option for Lampard.

Mertens spent plenty of his career as a right winger, before former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri opted to deploy the Belgian as a striker in the 2016/17 season, in which Mertens bagged 28 goals in just 35 Serie A appearances.

He has failed to match those numbers in the last few years but has still managed 40 goals and 21 assists in the last three seasons, and Lampard sees Mertens as a potential fix to Chelsea's struggles in front of goal.

However, Het Laatste Nieuws state that Mertens is toying with the idea of remaining with Napoli as he is not yet their undisputed record goalscorer.

He currently sits on 121 goals for the club, which is level with Marek Hamšík at the top of the charts, and he planned to score at least once more to take the position for his own before leaving. As a result, he is considering whether or not to stay at least one more year to net just one more goal.

A few other names are being considered by the Blues, such as Lyon's Moussa Dembélé and Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and it has been confirmed to 90min that Chelsea are ready to spend a large part of their budget on finding the right man in attack.

However, the fact that Mertens would be available on a free works in Lampard's favour as it would free up funds to be spent on improving other areas of the squad, such as left-back and centre-back.