Dries Mertens / Photo: © REUTERS/Ciro DeLuca
Belgian striker Dries Mertens will leave Napoli, Italian club president Aurelio de Laurentiis has announced.
The 35-year-old Belgian’s contract expired on June 30. Under the previous agreement, the player received a salary of 4.5 million euros per season.
“Unfortunately, sometimes you have to go against what the fans want. When a fan asks me why I do not leave Mertens, I can only answer that he offered us himself for another year, because he knows that he is 35 and he must finish.
If he wants to keep playing for us just for the money, then I have to say no. If I have to pay a disproportionate salary to Mertens, this will take some of the money from the budget for next season, and they will be needed to sign younger players, ”Football Italia quotes De Laurentiis with reference to Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli.
The club’s president revealed that Mertens had turned down two offers to extend his contract: one with a salary of €1.8m and another with €2.4m.
Mertens has been with Napoli since 2013. The Belgian is the club’s all-time leading scorer with 148 goals in 397 matches. As part of the team, Mertens won the Coppa Italia twice, and also became the owner of the country’s Super Cup.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.
Pisa and Juventus met in the Italian Serie A match. The match ended with the score 0:2.
They scored for the guests Calabrians (73′, own goal), Yildiz (90+2′).
According to the results of the match, Pisa has 11 points, the guests 32 points.
In the next match Pisa will play on January 3, 2026, the opponent will be Genoa. Juventus will play their next match on 3 January 2026 (the opponent is Lecce).
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
The scorer of the brace against Chelsea is an Aston Villa player. Ollie Watkins appointed head coach of the team Unai Emery tactical genius. Watkins’ comment is quoted by the BBC in reference to Sky Sports.
The meeting of the 18th round of the English championship between Aston Villa and Chelsea from London ended with a strong victory for the Birmingham team with a score of 2:1.
“He changed tactics because Chelsea played man-marking, but he had an extra central defender when we played long balls. When I came on in the second half, he put Jadon Sancho and Morgan Rodgers on the wing and put Youri Tielemans in the No. 10 position, so we had an extra player. He’s a tactical genius,” Watkins said.
“Amazing victory. For me personally, to go on the pitch and score two goals is a fantastic feeling, but to continue that streak and come here to such a difficult place and beat Chelsea is just incredible,” he added.
Aston Villa, under the leadership of former Spartak Moscow coach Emery, won 11 in a row. The team won 8 matches in the English championship and 3 in the Europa League.
In the English championship standings Aston Villa is in 3rd place with 39 points. In the next round, the Birmingham team will play away against Arsenal, leaders of the Premier League (42 points).
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
The English football club Aston Villa won 11 consecutive victories for the first time since 1914 and repeated the club record for this indicator.
On Saturday, in the away match of the 18th round of the English championship, the Birmingham team beat London’s Chelsea (2:1).
The last time Aston Villa won 11 matches in a row was in 1914. This happened previously in 1897.
Aston Villa under the leadership of former Spartak Moscow coach Unai Emery he achieved 8 victories in the English championship and 3 in the Europa League.
In the English championship standings Aston Villa is in 3rd place with 39 points. In the next round, the Birmingham team will play away against Arsenal, leaders of the Premier League (42 points).
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
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