Dries Mertens

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.

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.

It was here that the scouts of Anderlecht first spotted Mertens, ultimately resulting in him being offered a chance to join the club's youth academy in 1998.

He spent five years in the youth setup at Anderlecht before being released in 2003, with coaches finding him to be too short and physically incapable of competing at a professional level.

Following his release from Anderlecht, Mertens was signed by fellow Belgian Pro League side, Gent.

Following two seasons in Gent's youth academy, Mertens was loaned to Eendracht Aalst for the 2005–06 season.

He excelled with the third division side and was named Player of the Year.

The coaching staff at Gent, much like those at Anderlecht before, remained unconvinced of Mertens given his slight frame, however, and loaned him out again the following season, this time to AGOVV Apeldoorn in the Netherlands.

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.

On 1 July 2006, Mertens officially signed for AGOVV Apeldoorn, who later dissolved in 2013, on a season-long loan with the option of purchase.

He managed a return of 2 goals in 35 appearances during a season which saw him become a fan favourite amongst De Blauwen supporters.

Mertens' form prompted AGOVV, led by new manager John van den Brom, to exercise the option to sign the Belgian permanently the following season.

It was a move that paid off for the Dutch club as Mertens ended the season having 15 goals in 38 appearances for the club.

Such was his influence that Mertens was named new club captain for the 2008–09 Eerste Divisie season.

Mertens excelled in his new role and contributed a further 13 goals for the season which contributed to him being awarded the Golden Bull award for the most talented player in the Eerste Divisie.

It would be his last season with the club, however, as at the end of the season he agreed to join Eredivisie side Utrecht.

Mertens made 110 appearances across all competitions for AGOVV during his three seasons at the club and netted 31 goals.

Having agreed a deal with AGOVV in March 2009, Utrecht officially completed the signing of Mertens at the start of the 2009–10 Eredivisie season for a €600,000 transfer fee.

In his debut season with the club, Mertens netted six league goals en route to being named runner-up to Ajax's Luis Suárez for the Dutch Footballer of the Year award.

He was also awarded the Di Tommaso Trophy for Utrecht's Player of the Season.

He improved on his tally the following season, netting 10 goals in 31 league appearances for Utrecht, including a final day hat-trick against AZ, and a further three goals in his first experience in the UEFA Europa League.

In total, Mertens scored 14 goals across all competitions and contributed 24 assists.

It proved to be his last season at the club, though, as his form at the Stadion Galgenwaard caught the attention of some of the league's biggest clubs.

Mertens' two-season spell in Utrecht yielded 21 goals in 86 appearances across all competitions.

Mertens made his Belgium debut in 2011 and has since made over 100 appearances for the national team.

In June 2011, it was announced that Mertens had signed for fellow Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven as a replacement for the departing Balázs Dzsudzsák in a dual transfer with Utrecht teammate Kevin Strootman for a combined fee of €13 million.

He scored on his competitive debut for the club on 7 August 2011, netting PSV's only goal in a 3–1 loss to AZ.

Later that month, on 28 August, Mertens scored his first hat-trick for PSV in a 6–1 drubbing of Excelsior.

Mertens' strong start to season culminated with him netting four goals in a 7–1 rout of Roda JC on 24 September 2011, meaning he had scored 11 goals in his first 7 appearances for PSV.

Towards the back end of the campaign, Mertens lost a number of teeth during a collision with Heracles goalkeeper Remko Pasveer, although he managed to score during the incident.

It was revealed on social media platform Twitter that Pasveer had found one of Mertens' teeth lodged in his head three weeks after the players had collided.

Mertens ultimately ended the season having scored 21 goals in 33 matches, the fourth highest in the Eredivisie.

He also scored three goals in four KNVB Cup matches, including a header in the final at De Kuip, Rotterdam, leading PSV to a 3–0 win over Heracles.

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.

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.

Born in Leuven, Mertens started his career as a boy at the now-dissolved local club Stade Leuven.

In 2020, he scored his 122nd goal for the club, surpassing Marek Hamšík as Napoli's all-time top goalscorer.