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#8 - Dries Mertens, 91+ Goals | 2013-Present
He belongs to the same species as Lorenzo Insigne, Sebastian Giovinco, Marco Verratti and Papu Gomez; Born with a low-centre of gravity, but as ruthless and unforgiving as a starving beast in front of goal. Underrate him and he punishes you naivety.
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In the opening weeks of 2018/19, The Belgian scored the winning goal in a thrilling 3-2 comeback against AC Milan at the Stadio San Paolo. This was vintage Dries Mertens, striking when the opponents thought the spoils had been shared.
Gone are the days when Serie A defenders were ignorant of his devices, teams are more aware of his deceptive runs and link up plays up front, yet the goals have kept coming for the winger-turned centre-forward.
Dries Mertens is more of a late bloomer. The diminutive Belgian bounced around the Eredivisie for much of his career, before eventually switching from PSV Eindhoven in 2013, when Rafa Benitez was at the helm.
The former PSV man didn't hit the ground running immediately, but since he reached the peak of his powers in 2016, the floodgates have stayed open, and Mertens hasn't looked back.
His winning goal against AC Milan was his 91st in a Napoli shirt, but at 31 and only nineteen goals behind the incredible Marek Hamsik, Dries Mertens could be the chosen one who emerges as Napoli's all-time top scorer in the near future.
