Dries Mertens could have signed… in Indonesia: “It was one of his plans to go there for a year”

At 35, Dries Mertens is still one of the executives of Roberto Martinez’s selection. Proof of this is with this new selection this Friday which will further increase his current total of 105 appearances with the Red Devils. Even if he has not yet scored in his new colors, with Galatasaray, the Louvanist proves every weekend that he still has the legs to perform at a high level.

“The transfer to Galatasaray was a long process”explained his agent Stijn Francis in the MidMid podcast of Play Sports, which refers to the long negotiations with Napoli for an extension. “A lot of interesting proposals came, but in his head he wanted to stay in Naples. However, we realized too late that the story in Naples was ending. There was a naive belief that we could stay, also because that we never pushed for the opposite. In May-June everything was to be decided, but the revival did not materialize.”

“Everyone thinks money was the problem, but it really wasn’t”

What stuck? Probably salary demands, although Stijn Francis claims that “everyone thinks money was the problem, but it really wasn’t.” “We didn’t ask for much”he assures. “Compared to the offer from Juventus (€5 million per year), what we asked Napoli was very little. There was no negotiation, it was take it or leave it. let. In my opinion, there was not even a real negotiation. This raises questions. I suspect that a sporting choice was made. That the budget had to be spent differently and therefore the club did not pushed.”

After negotiations with Napoli and President Aurelio De Laurentiis failed, Dries Mertens and Stijn Francis opened talks with several clubs, including Juventus. “There was an interesting conversation with Juve, for us and for Dries. But his heart suggested he couldn’t do it”reveals Ciro’s agent, who has studied a much more surprising destination. “One of his other plans was to play in Bali for a year. Maybe it was a plan D rather than a plan B but Bali United, the Indonesian champions, were in the talks.”

A rumor also evoked the interest of Antwerp, who had just recruited Toby Alderweireld. “It was mentioned after the transfer from Alderweireld, but nothing more. Dries didn’t want to return to Belgium anyway.”