Dries Mertens

Dries Mertens

Mertens with Belgium at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Dries Mertens[1]
Date of birth	(1987-05-06) 6 May 1987 (age 37)[2]
Place of birth	Leuven, Belgium
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[3]
Position(s)	Forward, winger
Team information
Current team	Galatasaray
Number	10
Youth career
1996–1998	Stade Leuven
1998–2003	Anderlecht
2003–2005	Gent
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2007	Gent	0	(0)
2005–2006	→ Eendracht Aalst (loan)	14	(4)
2006–2007	→ AGOVV (loan)	35	(2)
2007–2009	AGOVV	73	(28)
2009–2011	Utrecht	69	(17)
2011–2013	PSV Eindhoven	62	(37)
2013–2022	Napoli	295	(113)
2022–	Galatasaray	66	(15)
International career‡
2004	Belgium U17	4	(0)
2011–	Belgium	109	(21)
Medal record Men’s football Representing  Belgium FIFA World Cup 2018
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:06, 26 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:09, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

Dries Mertens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdris ˈmɛrtəns]; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro",^[4][5] is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team.^[6][7]

As a youth, Mertens played for Stade Leuven, Anderlecht and Gent, and made his debut on loan to Eendracht Aalst in the Belgian Third Division. In 2006, he moved to Dutch Eerste Divisie club AGOVV Apeldoorn, where he spent three years before a €600,000 move to Utrecht of the Eredivisie. Two years later he and teammate Kevin Strootman were transferred to PSV Eindhoven for a combined fee of €13 million, and won the KNVB Cup and Johan Cruyff Shield in 2012. In 2013, Mertens signed for Napoli for a €9.6 million fee and has since made over 300 appearances for the club. He won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana in 2014, and was named in the Serie A Team of the Year during the 2016–17 season. In 2020, he scored his 122nd goal for the club, surpassing Marek Hamšík as Napoli's all-time top goalscorer.^[8]

Mertens made his Belgium debut in 2011 and has since made over 100 appearances for the national team. He was part of the nation's squads at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022 and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020, helping them to a third-place finish at the 2018 tournament. In 2016, he was named Belgian Footballer of the Year.