Napoli forward Dries Mertens has revealed that he was tempted to leave the Italian club last summer.
The Belgian ace confirmed in May last year that Chelsea had made an offer to sign him, but at the time he decided to sign a new contract instead.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Il Mattino (translated by Goal.com), Mertens said he wasn’t aware of any offers for him to leave in January, although he did say he was tempted by a proposal from China in the summer:
“It happened last year, this year nobody called me. The temptation was there, it’s normal and human, but I wanted to stay here. And I still want to stay here.”
The 30 year old reportedly has a €28m (£24.7m) release clause in his contract which comes into effect in the summer. There has been talk that Napoli could look to remove the clause by offering the Belgian international another new deal.
However, if it remains in place, Mertens will no doubt be in high demand with many of Europe’s top clubs pursuing him. So far this campaign, the striker has scored 17 goals in all competitions.
