Rome (AFP)
Belgian international striker Dries Mertens, the best scorer in the history of Napoli, has officially confirmed his departure from the southern team by posting a video on social media.
Mertens, 35, appears in the video, with his son Ciro on his knees, as he headed to his club by saying: “Dear sons of Naples. I knew this day would come, but I didn’t know how hard it would be to say goodbye to this city that embraced me, loved me and supported me in difficult and happy times as well.”
And he concluded: “My departure did not take place as I wished, but for me it is not a final departure, but rather a meeting,” noting that he would keep his home in Naples.
The Belgian international (105 caps with 21 goals), whose contract with Napoli expired on June 30, did not reach an agreement to renew it.
Over nine seasons, Mertens became the top scorer in Napoli history with 148 goals in various competitions, ahead of Lorenzo Insigne (112 goals) who moved to Canadian FC Toronto, Slovakian Marek Hamsik (121) and the late Argentine legend Diego Armando Maradona ( 114).
In the southern team, he won the Italian Cup twice, in 2014 and 2020, and after he refused an offer to move to Juventus, reports in the Italian newspapers spoke of the possibility of joining the Turkish Galatasaray.
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