Mertens Biography

Born: May 6 of the year. Growth: See football began to study at the school of the local club of the same name, at the age of 11 he ended up at the Anderlecht Academy. However, the coaches considered him not promising due to short stature and weak “physics”. But Drisa immediately picked up Gent, the coach of the youth team Etienne de Visplara captured the player’s technique.

The beginning of his career “Andrait Alst”: however, Mertens did not receive a chance in the “Gent”. And when De Vispelar led the Club of the Third Belgian Division "Endraht Alst", he immediately called Dris to himself. He did not have much choice. Here he played 14 matches, scored 4 goals, but the club flew to the Belgian division-2 fourth level in the system of football league in Belgium.

This club has become a launching pad for Mertens. And if the first season went to adapt 35 matches, 2 goals, then in the subsequent he became the leader of the team attack. Season 40 matches, 16 goals, 6 assists. The season Mertens played the position of the right striker. For him, nothing should be beaten or to leave at a speed from several rivals. Dris was constantly exacerbated, distributed assists and scored himself.

Although at the time of the debut in the Higher Dutch division Mertens turned 22 years old. Not so little for a football player. But here Dris began without swing. For Utrecht, he played 86 matches, scored 21 goals, gave 34 assists. In the Utrecht season, they managed to get in the Europa League, and Mertens was recognized as the second, after Luis Suarez, a football player of the championship.

Agree, for the first season in the elite, the result is outstanding. In the summer, Goal Mertens signed a contract with PSV, and the transfer amount amounted to 3 million euros solid for the Netherlands. And the camp of one of the leading clubs of Erdensa Mertens was not lost, in the starting 7 matches for PSV, he hit the gates of his rivals 11 times. In this situation, Rafa Benitest leaves Mertens the role of the first reserve and he copes with her perfectly.

Of the matches of the Dris season, only 18 began in the starting lineup. But this did not place him to score 13 goals, one of them in the final of the Italy Cup against Fiorentina and arrange 12 assistants. The next two years passed approximately in the same vein. Mertens did not grumble at the lack of space at the base, he simply went out and did his job. And I must say, I did it perfectly.

Undoubtedly, such a player was a real find on coaches, and Dris rejected his fidelity during this time by several offers of other clubs was appreciated by Napoli fans. The captain of Napoli Dris Mertens and the Belgian waited for him to call him a spare language. After Iguain moved to the Juventus hated in Naples, Mertens became an indisputable player in the starting lineup.

Then Maurizio Sarri began to use it if necessary to the position of the center forward and this is with an increase, see! Dris perfectly proved himself in this situation. In general, the season has become the best in his career. The result worthy of the best football players is modern. The transfer price of the Belgian took off to the sky -high heights.

In the summer he was actively called Manchester City, Chelsea and Barcelona. Instead, Dris re -signed the contract with Napoli and stated that he wanted to win the championship title with the team. Napoli fans and before that the soul did not dull in it, and after this they began to idolize. And in the season, the Neapolitans were more closely close to shifting Juventus from the throne.

Napoli was the leader before the tour, but in the last third of the championship he lost 14 points and eventually lagged behind the Turin by 4 points. Perhaps the championship title is the only thing that the Belgian was not enough in Naples. The breakthrough of Drice Mertens and so he became one of the legends of the club and the best scorers in his history. The record, Gol Mertens bypassed Marek Gamshik, was scored on June 13 on Inter and helped Napoli to go to the final of the Italian Cup, where Juventus was beaten on the penalty.

In total, for the Neapolitans, Mertens played matches, scored heads, gave 90 assists. But there is nothing eternal in this world. It is natural that with age the role of Mertens in the team became less.

In the summer of the year, the Belgian expired the contract and the parties did not agree on the terms of the new agreement. The contract with Galatasaray was signed for a year, but Mertens came to the court of 33 matches, 7 goals, 4 assists and the club activated the prolongation option. He is a bright representative of the “golden” generation of the Belgians, which, alas, did not won anything serious.

Mertens was part of the team at three world and two European championships. The Belgians spent 25 matches at them, Dris played in X of them. However, as bright as for clubs, he did not show himself. Of course, it is impossible to call him useless in any case, otherwise Mertens could not spend 21 goals for the national team of matches. But the brilliance, as say, in Napoli, still was not.

Offskid is remembered only by his goal in the starting meeting of the World Cup against Algeria. Then Mertens during the break replaced Nasser Shadley during the score and eventually scored the victorious goal of the titles of Dris Mertens.