Chelsea to miss out on signing Belgian forward?

Chelsea could reportedly miss out on the signing of Napoli star Dries Mertens, given the Belgian wants to remain in the Serie A next season.

The 33-year-old's contract with Napoli expires at the end of next month and so far, he has refused to put pen-to-paper on an extension.

As a result, he is likely to become a free-agent on July 1 and it has been recently claimed that the Blues could lure him to the Premier League.

However, according to Sky Sport Italia, that may not be the case and it is suggested that he could prolong his stay in the Italian top-flight next term.

Inter Milan are said to be leading the race to land his signature and they are prepared to hand him a two-year deal on wages of around £80,000-a-week.

Blues boss Frank Lampard is keen on signing an experienced attacker in the next transfer window with the likes of Pedro and Willian likely to leave the club when their contract expires this summer.

The hierarchy have opted against renewing the deal of Pedro. Willian, on the other hand, is reluctant to accept anything less than a three-year contract and that has led to an impasse in the negotiations.