Dries Mertens never stopped believing that he would have a “great career” even when finding himself in the Dutch second tier at AGOVV, say former team-mates Julius Willie and Koen Garritsen.
The Belgium international, at the age of 33, has spent the last 11 years proving his worth at the very highest level.
A consistent stream of goals has been provided across spells in the Eredivisie and Serie A with Utrecht, PSV and Napoli.
It is in Italy, having secured a move away from Eindhoven in 2013, where Mertens has seen his stock soar, with the target found on 121 occasions while in Naples.
Things have not always been this good, though, for the diminutive Belgian, with a rise to the top having been made from humble beginnings.
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Willie, who played alongside Mertens during his spell at AGOVV between 2006 and 2009, told Goal and Spox of a team-mate he believes was always destined for bigger and better things: “In addition to the training area, these shared apartments were the second community location for the whole team. Everyone felt welcome there. We played cards or PlayStation, listened to music or just talked.
“When it got late, many players then spent the night on mattresses on the floor. Dries always prepared sandwiches with fried chicken and chips. But I refused to even try that. He always had to do something else for me.
“He always approached the newcomers directly, integrated them and invited them to team activities. Even at this young age, he saw it as his job to keep the team together. Dries joked around a lot, laughed a lot and helped to ensure that we were not just team-mates, but also friends.
“In the beginning, he ended up on the ground in many duels, but over time he became more strong and stable. When he learned to use his body properly, he was unstoppable. He was always absolutely convinced that he would have a great career. And we all knew it too. None of us was surprised.”
That is an opinion shared by Garritsen, who was always impressed by Mertens' ability to counter what he lacked in stature with impressive technical ability.
Garritsen said: “He was an incredibly small guy, but at the same time he was the fastest player I have ever seen.
“His first touch on the ball was incredible. You always had the feeling that he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the ball before he even did it. But what impressed me the most was his change of direction. While I was still turning like an elephant in a duel, he was long gone.
“Dries was the translator and therefore the glue between us Dutch and the French-speaking Belgians in the team.”
