Arsenal are following Dries Mertens of Napoli, whose contract expires this summer, according to reports in Italy.

UDINE, ITALY - DECEMBER 07: Dries Mertens of SSC Napoli greets his fans after the Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and SSC Napoli at Stadio Friuli on December 7, 2019, in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
UDINE, ITALY – DECEMBER 07: Dries Mertens of SSC Napoli greets his fans after the Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and SSC Napoli at Stadio Friuli on December 7, 2019, in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Italian outlet Il Mattino (via Il Napolista) claim it’s no secret Mertens likes the idea of a move to the Premier League. There are ‘several’ English teams following him, including Arsenal.

Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich will provide competition for Mertens’ signature, with all three looking at a January move.

The 32-year-old’s contract expires this summer, and Napoli don’t want to lose him on a free transfer. As a result, they could sell for just €10m.

Mertens has nine goals and four assists in 21 appearances this season. A decent tally, making him joint-top scorer for the club.

Interestingly though, six of those 13 goal contributions came in just six Champions League matches, including two against Liverpool. The other seven came in 15 Serie A appearances, so clearly things aren’t going quite as well domestically.

Part of that is because he’s spending more time on the bench in the league, with a third of his appearances coming as a substitute.

There are other factors too, especially Napoli’s poor league form as a team. They haven’t won a game since October 19th in Serie A, a run of eight matches. It’s not hard to see why Mertens might want to leave.

Whether Arsenal could make a convincing case to him given their own recent form is another matter.

The media also linked Mertens to an Arsenal move a year-and-a-half ago, which you can read about here.