Mertens: 'Nobody wants to leave Napoli'

By Football Italia staff

Dries Mertens feels Napoli are more of a unit than “older” Juventus. “None of us wanted to leave, as it’s a pleasure working here.”

The Belgian sat down for a lengthy interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, you can read the rest here.

Mertens had been on the verge of walking away this summer amid reports his wife was unhappy in Naples, but signed a new contract instead.

He has been embraced by the locals and given the nickname ‘Ciro’ – a traditional Neapolitan name.

“I like walking around the city and being in contact with people. It’s true, sometimes it’s difficult when you want a little privacy with your family and there’s always someone asking for a photograph. There are about one million people in Naples and I think all of them have at least one picture with me, so I ought to be a bit more relaxed now.

“What convinced me to stay at Napoli was the project. I think this team is so strong and has a great future ahead of it. With this Coach at the helm, none of us wanted to leave, because it’s a pleasure working with Sarri and there’s such joy running through the entire group.

“This year we can do great things if we all stick together. Can we win the Scudetto? If Juventus decide to drop a few points… They are an older team compared to ours, which is younger and has more enthusiasm.

“Juve always had quality and bought the best on the market, such as Miralem Pjanic and Gonzalo Higuain. This obviously leads you to win. We must take another approach and win with not a single world class player, but many strong players who together make a remarkable team.

“Higuain is a player who can make the difference. I’m sorry he left, but I think that if he had stayed, I wouldn’t have played as a centre-forward.

“I have to say that President Aurelio De Laurentiis understood how good this squad is. He made sacrifices to keep us all together, proving he too wants to win. Now it’s up to us.

“Last season we were too respectful towards Real Madrid and it’d be very different if we met them again, because we learned from that experience.

“This year we could hurt many teams, including in the Champions League.”

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