Benitez told me to get Vermaelen to Napoli – Mertens

The Belgian believes he will find it difficult to convince his compatriot to leave the Gunners but thinks that the "magnificent" city of Naples could convince him

Rafael Benitez has roped Napoli attacker Dries Mertens in to his attempts to sign Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen in January.

Merten, who moved to the club in June from PSV, claims that the Partenopei coach has already asked him to encourage his fellow Belgian to make the switch to Serie A.

Inter Milan have their eye on Arsenal defender

Arsenal’s out-of-favour defender Thomas Vermaelen has no dearth of suitors despite failing to etch his name in the good books of manager Arsene Wenger. According to reports in talkSPORT, Serie A giants Inter Milan are keen to take the Belgian on board, thus offering him an escape route out of the Emirates.

Vermaelen has fallen out-of-favour with Wenger ever since his defensive lapses led the Gunners to a disastrous start last season. To add to his woes, the duo of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have been massively impressive and frugal in the defence, helping the club bounce back to fourth position in the league table last year, whilst also contributing to their blazing start this year.