Dries Mertens

General

Image gallery

Dries Mertens
Personal information
Full name:	Dries Mertens
Date of birth:	6 May 1987 (1987-05-06)
Place of birth:	Leuven, Belgium
Height:	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position:	Forward, winger
Club information
Current club	Galatasaray
Number:	10
Youth clubs
1996–1998 1998–2003 2003–2005	Stade Leuven Anderlecht Gent
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
2005–2007 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007–2009 2009–2011 2011–2013 2013–2022 2022–	Gent → Eendracht Aalst (loan) → AGOVV (loan) AGOVV Utrecht PSV Napoli Galatasaray	000 00(0) 014 00(4) 035 00(2) 073 0(28) 065 0(16) 062 0(37) 295 (113) 031 00(6)
National team
2004 2011–	Belgium U17 Belgium	004 00(0) 109 0(21)

Dries Mertens (born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team.

Mertens spent his youth at several Belgian club academies, and went on loan once to third division club Eendracht Aalst, where he excelled and was named Player of the Year. He went on another loan spell with Dutch side AGOVV Apeldoorn in 2006, who later opted to sign him on permanent deal in the next season. Mertens quickly became key player at Apeldoorn, as he was named as club captain on his second season, and being awarded Golden Bull as the most talented player in the Eerste Divisie. From 2009, he played for Dutch giants Utrecht and PSV Eindhoven for two years each, winning KNVB Cup and Johan Cruyff Shield with the latter. 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.

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.

Honours

Clubs

PSV Eindhoven

• KNVB Beker: 2011–12
• Johan Cruijff-schaal: 2012

Napoli

• Coppa Italia: 2013–14, 2019–20
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2014

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig: 2022–23

International

Belgium

• FIFA World Cup third place: 2018

Individual

• Belgian Third Division Player of the Season: 2006
• Eerste Divisie Golden Bull: 2009
• Di Tommaso Trophy: 2010
• Belgian Footballer of the Year: 2016
• Ballon d'Or nomination: 2017
• Serie A Team of the Year: 2016–17

External links

• Dries Mertens at Soccerway

• Dries Mertens profile at Transfermarkt

Belgium – 2014 FIFA World Cup – Quarter-finals

1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Vermaelen 4. Kompany (c) 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Fellaini 9. Lukaku 10. Hazard 11. Mirallas 12. Mignolet 13. Bossut 14. Mertens 15. Van Buyten 16. Defour 17. Origi 18. Lombaerts 19. Dembélé 20. Januzaj 21. Vanden Borre 22. Chadli 23. Ciman Manager:   Marc Wilmots

Belgium – UEFA Euro 2016 – Quarter-finals

1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Vermaelen 4. Nainggolan 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Fellaini 9. R. Lukaku 10. Hazard 11. Carrasco 12. Mignolet 13. Gillet 14. Mertens 15. Denayer 16. Meunier 17. Origi 18. Kabasele 19. Dembélé 20. Benteke 21. J. Lukaku 22. Batshuayi 23. Ciman Manager:   Marc Wilmots

Belgium – 2018 FIFA World Cup – Third place

1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Vermaelen 4. Kompany 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Fellaini 9. Lukaku 10. E. Hazard (c) 11. Carrasco 12. Mignolet 13. Casteels 14. Mertens 15. Meunier 16. T. Hazard 17. Tielemans 18. Januzaj 19. Dembélé 20. Boyata 21. Batshuayi 22. Chadli 23. Dendoncker Manager:   Roberto Martínez

Belgium – UEFA Euro 2020 – Quarter-finals

1. Courtois 2. Mignolet 3. Sels 4. Alderweireld 5. Boyata 6. Castagne 7. Denayer 8. Dendoncker 9. Meunier 10. Vermaelen 11. Vertonghen 12. Carrasco 13. Chadli 14. De Bruyne 15. T. Hazard 16. Praet 17. Tielemans 18. Vanaken 19. Witsel 20. Batshuayi 21. Benteke 22. Doku 23. E. Hazard (c) 24. Lukaku 25. Mertens 26. Trossard Manager:   Roberto Martínez

Belgium – 2022 FIFA World Cup – Group stage

1. Courtois 2. Alderweireld 3. Theate 4. Faes 5. Vertonghen 6. Witsel 7. De Bruyne 8. Tielemans 9. Lukaku 10. E. Hazard (c) 11. Carrasco 12. Mignolet 13. Casteels 14. Mertens 15. Meunier 16. T. Hazard 17. Trossard 18. Onana 19. Dendoncker 20. Vanaken 21. Castagne 22. De Ketelaere 23. Batshuayi 24. Openda 25. Doku 26. Debast Manager:   Martínez