Rafa Benitez has made his first signing of his Napoli reign in the form of Belgian international Dries Mertens.
Napoli have agreed a €9.5m fee with PSV Eindhoven to complete the signing of the winger.
The PSV star was heavily linked with Napoli for the last few weeks and had a medical over the weekend following which the formalities were completed Monday.
A statement on the club website said it had secured the 26-year-old former PSV Eindhoven player on a five-year deal. Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis welcomed Mertens to the club on his official Twitter account saying: “I am happy to tell you that a few minutes ago I closed the deal with PSV for Dries Mertens.”
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Player Profile: Dries Mertens
| Date of birth: | 06.05.1987 |
| Place of birth: | Leuven |
| Age: | 26 |
| Height: | 1,69 |
| Nationality: | Belgium |
| Position: | Striker – Left Wing |
| Foot: | right |
| Player’s agent: | Essel sports management |
Performance last season:
Competition | Matches | Goals | Assists | Minutes Played |
WC Qualifiers Europe | 5 | - | 2 | 306 |
6 | 1 | 3 | 523 | |
29 | 16 | 17 | 2333 | |
Johan-Cruyff-Schaal | 1 | - | 1 | 90 |
KNVB Beker | 3 | 1 | - | 261 |
Friendlies | 4 | 2 | 2 | 136 |
Total: | 48 | 20 | 25 | 3649 |
It will be interesting to see how Napoli shapes up with Mertens now at their disposal. Marek Hamsik will probably move inside allowing Mertens to play on the left wing. Another possibility can see him playing as a centre forward with Cavani moving out of the club. Realistically, he’s a better fit out wide, giving the Neapolitans a dimension they’ve lacked since Ezequiel Lavezzi moved to PSG.
