Dries Mertens was strongly linked with a move to Chelsea during the January transfer window, but a move failed to materialise.
Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur has confirmed Chelsea held talks with the Belgian, but he didn’t push for a move because of the Napoli record he wants to break.
Mertens is just two goals away from becoming Napoli’s all-time top goalscorer, and he’s keen on setting the record – which is why he didn’t push for a move to Chelsea even though he was interested in a move to London.
Terreur revealed: “He didn’t want to push for a move either, he wasn’t pushing for it, so he wasn’t actively searching.
“It was an interesting phone call from Chelsea. I think they wanted him because he could play in four positions. He could play as a striker, as a false nine, he can play on the left, he can play on the right, he can play as a No 10.
“He’s quite versatile and him and his missus have always liked London so if there was a chance to move to London, they wouldn’t reject that.
“But everything had to be perfect and everyone had to agree to it and in this case there wasn’t even any advanced negotiations so he didn’t push for it in the end. He wasn’t disappointed either that it didn’t go through. He will just now get to grab the record.”