Date of birth: May 6, 1987
Instagram: @driesmertens
Club(s): Gent, Eendracht Aalst (loan), AGOVV, Utrecht, PSV, Napoli
Country: Belgium
Signing fee: £8.5million
Did not play top-flight football until he was 22 years old but has developed to become an undisputed member of Belgium's golden generation. Dutch outfit Utrecht were the first top-tier club to take a chance on the versatile attacker and his performances earned subsequent moves to PSV and then Napoli in 2013, ascending to the top of the Serie A club's all-time scoring charts in 2020. Helped his country to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup.
Latest about Dries Mertens
Players who scored back-to-back hat-tricks
hat-trick heroes From the Premier League to the Champions League and international fixtures, a look at the men's players who scored back-to-back hat-tricks...
Two hat-tricks in one match
It is fairly unusual for two players to score a hat-trick in the same match. Here, a look at some of the times it has happened at the highest level...
Chelsea transfer news: Blues join Arsenal and Tottenham in Dries Mertens race
The three London clubs are keen to sign the Napoli forward this summer
