Dries Mertens is a Belgian professional football player. He plays as a striker or winger. He currently plays for the Italian club, Napoli. He started his youth career from Stade Leuven and later made his professional debut from Eendracht Aalst. He has also played for Gent, AGOVV, Utrecht, and PSV before joining Napoli in 2013. As Napoli, he earned several clubs and individual honors.
Mertens made his senior international debut in 2011. He was part of the Belgium national football team that finished 3rd in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Mertens has over 1.6 million followers on his [email protected]
What is Dries Mertens Famous For?
- Named 2016 Belgian Footballer of the Year.
Where was Dries Mertens Born?
Dries Mertens was born on 6 May 1987. His birth place is in Leuven in Belgium. He holds Belgian nationality. Detail information about his parents and siblings will be updated soon.
Source: [email protected]
Dries Mertens Football Career Timeline
- Mertens started his youth career from the local club, Stade Leuven in 1996.
- Anderlecht scouts spotted Mertens and signed him to their youth academy in 1998.
- He spent 5 years at the club’s academy. The club released him in 2003 as he was too short and physically incapable of competing at a professional level.
- Belgian Pro League club, Gent signed him in 2003.
- After spending 2 years at Gent’s academy, the club loaned him to the Belgian Third Division club, Endracht Aalst in 2005 for the 2005-06 season.
- Following the end of the 2005-06 season, Gent loaned Mertens to the Dutch club, AGOVV Apeldoorn.
- The club made his move permanent in 2007.
- He was made the club’s new captain for the 2008-09 Eerste Divisie season.
- He was awarded the Golden Bull award for the most talented player in the Eerste Divisie in 2008.
- He spent three years at AGOVV. He scored 31 goals in 110 appearances in all competitions for the club.
- He moved to Eredivisie club Utrecht in March 2009, where he had signed a 600,000 Euro deal with the club.
- Following the end of the 2009-10 season, he was awarded the Di Tommaso Trophy for Utrecht’s Player of the Season. He also finished runner-up to Ajax’s Luis Suarez for the Dutch Footballer of the Year award.
- In his 2-year spell at Utrecht, he scored 21 goals in 86 appearances in all competitions.
Source: @gettyimages
- The club transferred Mertens and Kevin Strootman to PSV Eindhoven for a combined fee of 13 million euros in 2011.
- He made his competitive debut for PSV on 7 August in a 1-3 loss against AZ. He scored his debut goal in his debut game.
- Towards the back end of the 2011-12 season fixture against Heracles, he collided with opponent’s goalkeeper Remko Pasveer and lost a number of teeth. One of his teeth was found lodged in Pasveer’s head three weeks later.
- He was part of the PSV team that won the 2011-12 KNVB Cup and 2012 Johan Cruyff Shield.
- The following season, he played a key role for PSV that finished runner-up to Ajax in the 2012-13 Eredivisie.
- He scored 45 goals in 88 appearances in all competitions for PSV in 2 seasons.
- He then signed with Italian club Napoli for 9.6 million Euro in June 2013.
- He became the first signing of Napoli’s new manager, Rafael Benitez.
- He made his Serie A debut against Bologna on 25 August 2013.
- He scored his Napoli debut goal against Fiorentina on 30 October 2013.
- He was part of the Napoli team that won 2013-14 Coppa Italia defeating Fiorentina 3-1. Mertens came on in as a substitute and scored in the final.
Source: @goal
- Mertens as also part of the Mertens team that won the 2014 Supercoppa Italiana. Napoli defeated Juventus in the penalty shoot-out.
- He was mostly used as a backup striker for the club until the 2016-17 season.
- Following Gonzalo Higuain’s exit from the club and Arkadiusz Milik’s injury, Mertens was given the main attacking role.
- He scored 4 goals in a 5-3 win over Torino in December 2016. While scoring four goals, he also recorded the fourth fastest hat-trick in Serie A history.
- He was named the 2016 Belgian Footballer of the Year.
- Mertens and Hamsik both scored a hat-trick in a 7-1 away win over Bologna on 4 February 2017. Napoli scoring 7 goals in a single game were the first time in the club’s history.
- He finished the 2016-17 season as the league’s second top goalscorer behind Edin Dzeko.
- He scored 109 goals in 280 appearances in all competitions since he joined the club until the end of the 2018-19 season.
- He became Napoli’s joint all-time highest goalscorer with 121 goals in March 2020 after scoring a goal against Barcelona in the 2019-20 Champions League. He sustained an injury in the same match.
Source: @ronaldo
Dries Mertens International Career
Dries Mertens represented Belgium U17 team before making his senior international debut.
He was called up for the senior team in 2010 for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Kazakhstan and Austria. He was not featured then.
He later made his senior international debut in a friendly match against Finland on 9 February 2011.
He scored his debut international goal against the Netherlands on 15 August 2012.
He was part of the Belgium national team that reached the quarterfinals in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
He had made a bet with his father that he would score in the tournament, which he succeeded. According to the bet, he shaved his father’s mustache off as a reward for winning the bet. He posted the picture on his Instagram.
Mertens was part of the Belgium national team that reached the quarterfinals in the 2016 UEFA Euro Cup.
He was also named in the Belgium national team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He mostly featured in the matches coming on in as a substitute.
Belgium finished in third place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Source: @dawn
Individual Honors
Belgian Third Division Player of the Season: 2006
Eerste Divisie Golden Bull: 2008
Di Tommaso Trophy: 2010
Belgian Footballer of the Year: 2016
Serie A Team of the Year: 2016-17
Source: @voetball.be
Who is Dries Mertens Married to?
Dries Mertens is a married man. He is married to Katrin Kerkhofs. The couple tied a knot to each other in 2015.
How Tall is Dries Mertens?
Dries Mertens stands at a height of 1.69 m i.e. 5 feet and 7 inches tall. He has an athletic body build. He has dark brown eyes and his hair color is black.
What is Dries Mertens Net Worth?
Dries Mertens earns from his professional career as a football player. His income comes from contracts, salaries, bonuses, and endorsements. He joined Napoli for a reported 9.5 million Euro fee. His contract details are not released. Thus, his actual salary cannot be determined. His net worth will be updated soon.
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