---
title: "Everton eye Mertens signing ahead of January window"
canonical: "https://readeverton.com/everton-eye-mertens-signing-ahead-of-january-window/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Elliott Cuff"
section: "Feature Writers"
published: "2019-12-28T20:00:00Z"
modified: "2019-12-28T20:00:00Z"
---

# Everton eye Mertens signing ahead of January window

Everton are interested in signing Napoli forward Dries Mertens, according to reports.

The Belgian forward will see his contract at the San Paolo expire next summer, and he has yet to commit to signing a new contract in Serie A.

[It was reported earlier this week](https://readarsenal.com/2019/12/26/napoli-make-last-attempt-to-keep-arsenal-linked-mertens/) that Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis had made the 32-year old a last ditch contract offer, believed to be a two-year deal worth €4.2million per year, and that the offer was a ‘take it or leave it’ deal.

While Arsenal, Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund are all said to be keen, Calciomercato ([via Sport Witness](https://sportwitness.co.uk/everton-said-interested-signing-belgium-international-toffees-face-competition/)) claim that the Toffees are interesting in reuniting the Belgium international with Carlo Ancelotti at Goodison Park.

![Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readeverton.com/readeverton/2019/12/1190111878.jpg)

Mertens is the fourth Napoli player in the past couple of weeks to be linked with an Everton transfer, following former Partenopei boss Ancelotti being confirmed as Marco Silva’s successor.

Piotr Zielinski, Kalidou Koulibaly and Lorenzo Insigne have all been named as potential transfer targets in January, as Ancelotti looks to put his own stamp on the Blues.

Calciomercato’s report suggests that Everton have made a ‘first approach’, having discovered that Mertens can be signed for €10million without needing to negotiate with Napoli before January 10. After that date, they would need to negotiate with De Laurentiis, who is known to be an extremely tough customer.

With Mertens said to be keen on a Premier League move, Everton appear to be in a good position, should the reports prove to be accurate.

### Read Everton Verdict

For me, this just seems too convenient. Often, when a manager moves to a new club, it is little more than lazy speculation when a raft of their previous players are linked to their new club, especially when those reports are from notoriously unreliable Italian media.

Despite being on the older side, Mertens still has so much quality, and his signing would be a wise one with Everton lacking much wide talent. As someone who can equally play as a striker or as an out-and-out winger, Mertens would be a great addition.

However, the Toffees would face plenty competition, and once again it makes me wonder how influential Ancelotti is, because it doesn’t seem as though Everton would stand much of a chance unless they had the Italian in charge, who is said to have a good working relationship with Mertens.