Chelsea looking to bring in Napoli star Dries Mertens

Premier League giants Chelsea face an uphill battle trying to persuade their long-term target Dries Mertens to swap Italy for the Premier League. 

The Belgian forward has been targeted by Chelsea manager Frank Lampard to ease his goal-scoring problems and help them maintain their top-four status at the end of the season.

Mertens, however, has his sights to become the record goal-scorer for the Naples side before he leaves the club. 

He currently is just four goals short of legend Marek Hamsik’s tally of 122 goals for I Partenopei.

Lampard first identified Mertens as a possible addition to his squad back in early December and the Blues have been monitoring the player ever since. 

The Belgian superstar is also out of contract at Napoli at the end of this season who have been advised to cash in on their the 32-year-old. 

Lampard is running out of time to find a new centre forward who he believes can add more firepower to his squad. Veteran French forward Olivier Giroud is looking for an exit and is waiting for the Blues to allow him to leave. 

The 33-year-old has barely figured under Lampard despite winning the World Cup with France in 2018 and has held talks with his boss about leaving. 

The Frenchman is concerned that he might lose his spot in Didier Deschamps' France squad for the Euro 2020 if he stays at Stamford Bridge. 

Internazionale have been in for him but Chelsea’s rivals Tottenham have also showed a cheeky interest although it is unlikely Chelsea will allow the forward to join their London rivals. 

It would be some feat though if Giroud does move to the north London club which will see him play for all three London giants Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. 

Lampard's first-choice striker this season has been young Tammy Abraham who has certainly made a strong impression. However, he is still very young and we will have wait and see if he can maintain his game at such a high level. 

The 22-year-old is battling to overcome an ankle injury which he suffered against Arsenal last week. He is in line to make the comeback in time to feature against Leicester City in the weekend.

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