The video posted on social media by Dries Mertens he certainly showed attachment to Napoli and to the city of Naples of the Belgian attacker. So much so that the mayor Gaetano Manfredi has decided to grant the player the honorary citizenship of the capital of Campania.
The Mayor Gaetano Manfredi grants honorary citizenship of Naples to Dries Mertens
For all that it has represented, and represents, for #Naples, for the special bond he was able to build with the Neapolitans, for having decided to keep his house in our city: we will grant honorary citizenship to @ dries_mertens14.
- Gaetano Manfredi (@GaeManfredi) August 5
Whose responsibility for the farewell to Napoli football?
The non-renewal of the contract, however, has led everyone to wonder the reasons for the black smoke between the parties involved, especially given the declared willingness of the player to remain in the Campania capital and the continuous "rebounds of responsibility".
In the end, then, how did things really go?
The farewell of Mertens and the version of the Belgian
A love message and a goodbye, more than a goodbye, the one posted on Instagram by Dries Mertens, with his arm his son, little Ciro.
But what is the Belgian version?
Simple: his departure did not go as he wanted.
"My departure did not go as I would have liked: I thank the club, teammates, coaches and fans, but for me it is not a goodbye, just a goodbye".
Dries Mertens on Instagram
De Laurentiis 'visit to Mertens' home is the latest offer to convince him to stay
The company pulls itself out of any responsibility for Dries Mertens' farewell. President Aurelio De Laurentiis, had gone to visit him at his home to convince him to stay, according to what the Italian patron himself claimed. Then, the confession to a fan.
"Mertens? I first offered him 1,8 million, then 2, then 2,4 but he refused ".
Aurelio De Laurentiis, president of Napoli, to a fan
Spalletti on the failure to renew Mertens with Napoli football
Put like this, it was neither the player's nor the president's will.
And the coach?
After the latest rumors they wanted to be their number one manager Luciano Spalletti, the coach from Certaldo took care to dispel any controversy.
“Let's be clear: it wasn't me, it wasn't the club that didn't want it with us. Mertens could have given us a great hand. But the company made him an offer and he didn't accept. I keep myself out of these dynamics, and rightly so.
Luciano Spalletti, Napoli coach, at Corriere della Sera
A rebound of responsibility that does not solve the problem, certainly there is that the city of Naples has lost a player who is very attached to it.
Photo source: Mertens official Instagram
