Fans, he's staying in Naples. Barcelona fears him: he'll be out for 10 days, but he'll be at Camp Nou. Six years in Naples, a goal-scoring streak that began slowly, on the left flank, and ended in the center of attack in the Champions League round of 121 against Leo Messi's Barcelona. This Champions League night gave Napoli the pride of having held their own against the Catalans and the joy of Dries Mertens's goal-scoring record. With his curling shot, he reached 121 goals, overtaking Marek Hamsik at the top of Napoli's all-time scoring charts. Mertens celebrated by slapping the Napoli symbol on his chest and showing his heart to the fans at the San Paolo stadium. Today, he shared the joy with Hamsik, posting a graphic on social media showing him embracing the Slovakian in front of the number 30 in the stadium stands. Mertens is part of the Azzurri's history, a journey that began in Florence on October 2013, 32, with a left-footed shot to the far post that gave Napoli the win, and concluded yesterday with a curling shot against Barcelona that brought joy. Mertens loves Napoli and today he has been inundated with fans calling for him to stay with the Azzurri until the end of his career: the Belgian is XNUMX years old and his contract expires in June. Gattuso would like to keep him, and Napoli hasn't yet made him a convincing offer, but with a series of goals, the two sides could get closer. Those goals won't come on Saturday against Torino: Pique's foul caused him a severe contusion to his right ankle that will keep him out for several days, perhaps ten. "Mertens will be out for ten days, he'll be there for the return match in Barcelona," read today's headline on the website of Catalan newspaper Sport, which identifies him as the number one threat to the Spanish defense. But Napoli earned the respect of the Spanish yesterday, with Sport headlined "Golden Goal, Tin Kick." Koulibaly also skipped training today, as he continues his recovery, while Gattuso will ask the Maksimovic-Manolas duo to work overtime against Torino after having stopped Messi and Griezmann.
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Article published on February 26, 2020 - 19:06 PM - News Desk
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