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Transfer hunger of Paul Gheysens not yet satisfied, Antwerp chairman also responds to rumors about Dries Mertens

No team has already spent as much this summer as Antwerp. But that’s not to say the Great Old is already sold out. “We still have a month and we will be able to use it,” said chairman Paul Gheysens.

Yanko Beeckman

If there’s one thing Paul Gheysens knows about, it’s about building. “We are currently building a great team,” said the Antwerp chairman. “But you can’t do that in one day. It’s not bad, but at the moment there is still some key work to be done on the squad. So something will still happen – also on an outgoing level. The aim is to go to as complete a group as possible. We still have a good month and we can use it. Haven’t spent that much money yet, have you? We haven’t made any expensive transfers yet.”

The Great Old has already completed six incoming transfers this summer, which together cost almost 17 million euros, and thus spent the most money of all clubs in the Jupiler Pro League. Vincent Janssen (28) and Toby Alderweireld (33) were also offered a solid salary and thus belong to the top earners in the Belgian competition. “I read a lot of amounts, but I can tell you that we haven’t thrown money yet,” says Gheysens.

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Where the defense has already been considerably strengthened with the arrival of Alderweireld and Gaston Avila (20), Antwerp now seems to focus mainly on the midfield and the vanguard. A name that, after his retirement from Napoli, is once again circulating at the Bosuil is that of Dries Mertens. “But no, no, no”, Gheysens is clear. “We’ve never even had contact with him. I feel sorry for him that that is suggested by some people. Dries Mertens is big in Italy, he has a nice house there and he is used to life there. I think he will just come to a deal with Naples. That they’ve already said goodbye? I think that’s a form of negotiation. Mertens is a good footballer, a good person, but at the moment he is not on our radar. We are offered many things. Now we just have to see what’s interesting and realistic. In any case, you can do those things better to Marc Overmars (technical director, ed.) to ask. That responsibility rests entirely with him.”

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