Dries Mertens is a Belgian footballer who plays in the Italian Serie A. However, he got there only three years ago - before that he was known for his game for various Dutch clubs. Dris Mertens is a regular player of the Belgian national team and shows very impressive football.
Carier start
Dries Mertens was born on May 6, 1987 in Belgium. At the age of nine, he joined the football academy of the local Leven club, where two years later the scouts of Anderlecht found him and invited him to the system of one of the strongest clubs in the country. But in the five years he spent there, the guy could not impress the coaches, so in 2003 he ended up at the academy of the less eminent Gent club. It was with him two years later that the player signed a professional contract, but he was not destined to play at the base. Immediately after the conclusion of the contract, in the summer of 2005, Mertens was sent on loan to Endracht, where he spent the whole year leaving the field only 14 times and scoring four goals. When Dries returned to his native club, he still could not find a place, and he went for another year for rent to a neighboring country, namely to the tiny club "AGOVV". There he became a base player and for the season he entered the field 35 times and scored two goals.
Transition to "AGOVV"
For Ghent, Dries Mertens was not a talent, but for AGOVV he turned out to be a real star. In the next two years, the winger became an integral part of the team, won the award of the most talented young football player, and also became the captain of the club. But in 2009, Mertens announced that he was going to leave the club in order to grow further, and in the summer of that year he signed a contract with the Dutch Utrecht, which paid 600 thousand euros for the 22-year-old winger. Dries Mertens - a football player who was far from immediately recognized as a great talent - gradually began to make his way to the top of football.
A new beginning in Utrecht
Dries Mertens immediately became one of Utrecht’s key players: in the two years he spent there, the Belgian entered the field 86 times and scored 21 goals. Largely with his help, the club went far in Eurocups in the second season, although it did not even participate in the first of them. However, it was obvious that Utrecht was far from the limit for a talented Belgian. Therefore, in the summer of 2011, Mertens went on to increase - he moved to one of the strongest clubs in the Netherlands, “PSV” for eight and a half million euros.
The game for PSV
In PSV, the winger was able to open up completely and amaze everyone with its capabilities. No one expected that such results would be shown by once advocating for AGOVV Dries Mertens.
The player’s statistics for the new club are simply amazing - as a winger, he played in 88 matches, scoring 45 goals and giving 43 assists. On average, he had one goal action per match! In the summer of 2013, Mertens joined one of Italy’s strongest clubs, Napoli (Neapolitans paid ten million euros for a 27-year-old Belgian).
Relocation to Italy
In “Napoli” Mertens did not give up his positions and continued to please the fans with his game: for three years in the club he appeared on the field 135 times, scored 34 goals and gave 31 assists. And in the current season, Dries did not slow down - in 8 matches he scored 4 goals and gave 3 assists.
Team appearances
In the Belgian national team, Mertens is also striking in his performance - in 53 matches (the first of which took place in February 2011 and the last in October 2016), the player scored 9 goals and gave 13 assists.