Dries Mertens admits he “enjoys playing as a centre-forward and the team likes it too” after a 17-0 friendly victory in which he scored six goals.
The Belgian came on for the second half of their run-out against local side Bassa Anaunia.
By that point it was already 7-0 thanks to a Lorenzo Insigne brace, Arkadiusz Milik hat-trick, plus goals from Allan and Nikola Maksimovic.
After the break it was all-change in Maurizio Sarri’s side with even better results, as Mertens found the net six times.
Dries Mertens admits he “enjoys playing as a centre-forward and the team likes it too” after a 17-0 friendly victory in which he scored six goals.
The Belgian came on for the second half of their run-out against local side Bassa Anaunia.
By that point it was already 7-0 thanks to a Lorenzo Insigne brace, Arkadiusz Milik hat-trick, plus goals from Allan and Nikola Maksimovic.
After the break it was all-change in Maurizio Sarri’s side with even better results, as Mertens found the net six times.
Emanuele Giaccherini also scored twice with Marko Rog and Leonardo Pavoletti on target.
New signing Ounas made a good impression, hitting the upright and providing an assist for Giaccherini’s goal.
“I want to do everything to repeat last season’s performance,” Mertens told Mediaset Premium after the game.
“I enjoy playing as a centre-forward and the team likes it too, so everything is ok. We want the Scudetto, but we know it’s difficult, as Juventus have great players and are buying others. We just have to focus on ourselves and take it game by game.
“The most important thing is to get through the Champions League preliminary round.”
Napoli (first half): Sepe; Maggio, Maksimovic, Chiriches, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Milik, Insigne
Napoli (second half): Rafael; Maggio (Hysaj 66), Albiol, Koulibaly, Strinic; Rog, Diawara, Zielinski; Ounas (Pavoletti 66), Mertens (Leandrinho 83), Giaccherini