Dries Mertens | €28M release clause

Raees said:
Get Insigne. Looked a monster v City
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Insigne is a wonderful player; a delightful winger. If i am correct, he was linked to Barcelona in the summer to replace Neymar. But he is Napoli's De Rossi, Napoli's Totti, Napoli's Ryan Giggs. He loves the club.

Mertens can play across the front line with ease and be effective from each position.
 
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poacher said:
He's too old. We can't be signing 30-year-old players. If we need a winger how about Leon Bailey or if we need a number 10 then how about Fekir?
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Did you say that when you signed RvP and he won you the PL?

Or what about Matic?
 
I don't see where he'd fit in. Lukaku is your CF and that's the position Mertens has found new life in at Napoli after several years of being a largely inconsistent rotational winger.

You could buy him and play him on the RW, but I just don't think he'll be effective in that position anymore. He's very much converted to a CF who's comfortable in the system Sarri has created. I'm not sure you can pluck him out of that system and put him in to a new one, in his old position in a different role and expect him to perform at the same level.
 
Don't think there is much in this rumour. Also he started playing as #9 since Milik's injury and never looked back but we have #9 covered. Also IIRC his best position was left winger and we have 2 superb young players fighting for the position.
 
We need a younger creative winger/forward with speed and skill, for our right hand side. Martial is good enough rotating with Rashford on the left. This is when we play a 4-3-3.

When we revert to a 3-5-2 we need better wing backs than Valencia and Young, as well as a better creative player than Mata or Mkhi. Pogba can play as the creative player when we play a 4-3-3 but then we need another box to box midfielder like Fabinho or Savic, as Herrera or Fellaini are not up to it.IMO
 
The EPL is the worst 'retirement' league there is.
 
Buy buy buy. This is like rejecting Salah, Pedro, Mane all over again. We’ve got fecking Lingard.
 
DannyCAFC said:
Did you say that when you signed RvP and he won you the PL?

Or what about Matic?
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They were both Premier League proven players and didn’t need any time to settle in. They know what’s required, moving from Serie A to the Prem can be a big step for some players.
 
Good player coming off his best year, but he's 30 so I'd give it a miss. I'd prefer his teammate Insigne.
 
roonster09 said:
Don't think there is much in this rumour. Also he started playing as #9 since Milik's injury and never looked back but we have #9 covered. Also IIRC his best position was left winger and we have 2 superb young players fighting for the position.
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He's definitely made the #9 role his own. Sarri even said it's a shame he only found how good he was as a striker so late.

Not at all what we need tbh, as good as a player he is.
 
Exactly the kind of player we should sign: in his peak and able to immediate impact.
In the current football young players only can to progress with game time, in the pitch.
You can see that those U-23 who are not regular starters keep showing the same level, they do not develop.
 
I feel like I've said this before but it would be madness to reject Mertens.
 
£28m isn't a lot for a player of Mertens quality nowadays.

Could he play on the right of a front three?
 
Dont fully understand the age references, even if we got 2-3 years out of him its money well spent.
 
You have to wonder how long he can remain his pace/athleticism.
 
He plays as a center forward. He only got in the team when Milik was injured, the years before he was more on the bench then on the pitch, playing as a winger. He's a decent player, playing in a system that suits him perfectly. He wouldn't stand a chance in this Utd team imo. Every time he has played as a center forward for Belgium, he was awful.

I really like him, but don't want him here.
 
LennonNL said:
They were both Premier League proven players and didn’t need any time to settle in. They know what’s required, moving from Serie A to the Prem can be a big step for some players.
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:rolleyes:I know what you mean but that wouldn't be the reason for his struggles if he came. Rarely the problem for the players is the league they move to. Much more often is them just being wrong players for the system that their team plays. Mertens would be completely wrong for the way Mourinho plays IMO. In our side, the only way he'd work is in a front 2 with Lukaku but mourinho doesn't like using front 2's so it wouldn't. He's not really a wide player anymore. Or at least he only turned into a quality player when he moved up top.

If he went to City for example, then I'd be worried. Would probably replace Aguero without them losing a beat. So it's not really the league that would be the issue.
 
bosnian_red said:
:rolleyes:I know what you mean but that wouldn't be the reason for his struggles if he came. Rarely the problem for the players is the league they move to. Much more often is them just being wrong players for the system that their team plays. Mertens would be completely wrong for the way Mourinho plays IMO. In our side, the only way he'd work is in a front 2 with Lukaku but mourinho doesn't like using front 2's so it wouldn't. He's not really a wide player anymore. Or at least he only turned into a quality player when he moved up top.

If he went to City for example, then I'd be worried. Would probably replace Aguero without them losing a beat. So it's not really the league that would be the issue.
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Changes leagues can be an issue, especially for players who are maybe used to a less aggressive style of play. Sticking Mertens, a tiny player who needs space to play, into an aggressive league and expecting him to immediately perform at the same level as RvP did is a bit naive. I mean, he could easily prove me wrong seeing as he is a quality player, but it just makes sense. We’ve seen it before.
 
LennonNL said:
Changes leagues can be an issue, especially for players who are maybe used to a less aggressive style of play. Sticking Mertens, a tiny player who needs space to play, into an aggressive league and expecting him to immediately perform at the same level as RvP did is a bit naive. I mean, he could easily prove me wrong seeing as he is a quality player, but it just makes sense. We’ve seen it before.
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I don't disagree that he could find it hard to adapt, I just disagree at the league change really being the issue. Usually think it's to do with the system the team plays more then league. Like there are players that this applies to, but quality strikers like Mertens, wouldn't think so. Though then again, he's someone who is best suited at teams like Napoli, barca, City. Possession oriented teams that create lots of chances and overload the attack and aren't too concerned with physicality, more so with technical ability.
 
I'm bumping this thread not because there's anything new on him, but to see what people make of him as an option for our RW... since he's been playing RW for Belgium in this World Cup.

He's turned 30 last month, but he's got a €28m release clause which is peanuts in the current market and he could make a good stop gap for a few seasons. Especially since people talk about us buying Willian and their age difference is only like 9 months but Willian would probably cost double to get from a rival.

He's been fire in Italy for Napoli. Amazing energy, running and link-up play and (quite importantly) lethal in front and around the goal.

Also I have a feeling we'll be talking about him after tonight's match against England.
 
FlawlessThaw said:
Think his release clause has expired
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Is it? How so? There was no expiry mentioned when he signed the contract 8 months ago (that's when the release clause was written in, cause he'd run his contract down) and this is the first summer transfer market since he signed it.

Any links that suggest the clause is no longer active?

RobinLFC said:
99% sure he will not be involved.
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I'm 99% sure he will be involved since Lukaku is already out. I don't think Martinez will change the entire front line and he'll probably want to give Hazard a rest too. I don't hink he'll play full 90', mind, but we'll see.
 
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