32 Facts About Dries Mertens

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

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

Dries Mertens 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.

Dries Mertens 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.

Dries Mertens 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 Dries Mertens given his slight frame and loaned him out again the following season, this time to AGOVV Apeldoorn in the Netherlands.

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

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

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

Dries 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.

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

Dries Mertens was awarded the Di Tommaso Trophy for Utrecht's Player of the Season.

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

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

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

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

Dries Mertens ultimately scored 14 league goals, and 16 across all competitions as PSV ended the season as runners-up to Ajax in the Eredivisie.

Dries Mertens aided his side's cause with a further 17 assists.

Dries Mertens departed Eindhoven having made 88 appearances and scored 45 goals over the course of two seasons.

Dries Mertens claimed another winners' medal on 22 December 2014 after Napoli's penalty shoot-out victory over Juventus in the Supercoppa.

Dries Mertens maintained his goal scoring form the following season during which he scored 22 goals for the campaign.

Dries Mertens was later substituted early in the second half due to injury.

On 8 August 2022, Dries Mertens joined Turkish club Galatasaray on a free transfer.

Dries Mertens finished his second season at the club as the top assist provider in the league with 18 assists, in addition to scoring 9 goals and in 35 matches.

On 3 July 2024, Galatasaray announced that Dries Mertens had signed a new one-year contract.

Dries Mertens scored his first goal for Belgium on 15 August 2012 in the 125th Derby der Lage Landen.

Dries Mertens was named in Marc Wilmots' 23-man squad for Belgium's 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign in Brazil on 13 May 2014.

Dries Mertens made five appearances in total at the World Cup as Belgium were eliminated in the quarter-finals at the hands of eventual runners-up, Argentina.

Dries Mertens was later named in Belgium's squad for the tournament proper and featured in all five of the nation's matches as Belgium fell at the quarter-final stage , this time losing out to Wales.

Dries Mertens featured interchangeably as a starter and substitute for the remainder of the tournament as Belgium ended third, defeating England in the third place play-off.

Dries Mertens was part of the Belgian squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the team performed badly, failing to make it out of the group stages.