Dylan Mertens (born 20 July 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Russian Premier League club Fakel Voronezh.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 20 July 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Fakel Voronezh | ||
| Youth career | |||
| SDW | |||
| DWS | |||
| –2008 | AFC | ||
| 2008–2010 | FC Utrecht | ||
| 2010–2011 | AFC | ||
| 2011–2013 | SV Argon | ||
| 2013–2014 | FC Den Bosch | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2018 | Volendam | 38 | (2) |
| 2018–2019 | Telstar | 19 | (2) |
| 2019 | TOP Oss | 1 | (0) |
| 2020 | Koninklijke | 4 | (1) |
| 2020–2021 | Tsarsko Selo | 25 | (1) |
| 2021–2024 | Botev Plovdiv | 66 | (4) |
| 2024– | Fakel Voronezh | 0 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:27, 6 June 2024 (UTC) | |||
Career
editYouth
editMertens was born in Amsterdam. He played for SDW, DWS and AFC before joining the FC Utrecht Youth Academy in 2008. Two years later he had to leave and decided to return to AFC. His return was not for long and after one season he moved to SV Argon. In the summer of 2013 he made the move to FC Den Bosch, where he played with the A1 (Under 19).
FC Volendam
editIn the preparation of the 2014–15 season, Mertens joined FC Volendam on an amateur basis.[2] That season, he played 15 matches in the second team in which he scored 4 times. He also made it to the match selection of the first team two times, but didn't make his debut. On 30 March 2015, he signed his first professional contract with FC Volendam, until mid 2017.[3]
In the summer of 2015, Mertens joined the first team. On 7 August 2015, he made his debut for FC Volendam in the league match against NAC Breda (4–1 win). He replaced Rafik El Hamdi after 79 minutes.[4] On 18 September 2015, he scored his first goal for FC Volendam, the opening goal in a 2–0 win against Helmond Sport.[5] In February 2016, Mertens extended his contract at FC Volendam until mid 2018.[6]
In the preparation of the 2016–17 season, Mertens tore off his front crossband and was unable to play for the rest of the season.[7] On 29 April 2017, 10 months later, he made his comeback in a match of Jong FC Volendam against FC Rijnvogels.
TOP Oss
editOn 8 August 2019, it was announced that Mertens had signed a contract until the summer 2020 with TOP Oss.[8] However, after a disappointing start on the season, the club announced on 17 October 2019, that Mertens was one of three players that had left the club.[9]
Fakel Voronezh
editIn June 2024, Mertens joined Russian Premier League side Fakel Voronezh.[10]
Career statistics
edit- As of 27 May 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Volendam | 2014–15 | Eerste Divisie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | Eerste Divisie | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 30 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | Eerste Divisie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Eerste Divisie | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | |||
| Total | 38 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 2 | ||
| Jong Volendam | 2016–17 | Derde Divisie | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | Derde Divisie | 22 | 10 | – | – | 1[a] | 0 | 23 | 10 | |||
| Total | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 10 | ||
| Telstar | 2018–19 | Eerste Divisie | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 2 | ||
| TOP Oss | 2019–20 | Eerste Divisie | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| Koninklijke | 2019–20 | Tweede Divisie | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | |||
| Tsarsko Selo | 2020–21 | Bulgarian First League | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 1 | ||
| Botev Plovdiv | 2021–22 | Bulgarian First League | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1[b] | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | Bulgarian First League | 26 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2[c] | 0 | – | 30 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Bulgarian First League | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 14 | 4 | |||
| Total | 66 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 74 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 177 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 191 | 22 | ||
- ^ Appearance in the promotion play-offs
- ^ Appearance in the Bulgarian First League UECL play-offs
- ^ Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
References
edit- ^ Dylan Mertens at WorldFootball.net
- ^ Hans de Koning stelt de nieuwkomers voor groot-waterland.nl, 5 August 2014
- ^ FC Volendam legt weer twee Zaanse talenten vast Zaans Soccer Talent, 4 May 2015
- ^ Game Report by Soccerway
- ^ Game Report by Soccerway
- ^ FC Volendam breekt contract van Dylan Mertens open FC Volendam, 10 February 2016
- ^ Drama voor Dylan Mertens FC Volendam, 12 July 2016
- ^ Dennis Hettinga en Dylan Mertens blijven in Oss, toposs.nl, 8 August 2019
- ^ Drie spelers vertrekken bij TOP Oss; Ioannidis is nieuw, toposs.nl, 17 October 2019
- ^ "Дилан Мертенс стал игроком «Факела»" [Dylan Mertens became a Fakel player]. fakelfc.ru (in Russian). 6 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
External links
edit- Dylan Mertens at Soccerway