Alexander Merkel
Alexander Merkel was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan on February 22nd, 1992 and is the Soccer Player. At the age of 32, Alexander Merkel biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 32 years old, Alexander Merkel has this physical status:
Alexander Merkel (born 22 February 1992) is a professional footballer in Kazakh-Germany who plays as a midfielder for Heracles Almelo.
Club career
Merkel, who was born in Kazakhstan to parents of German ancestry, immigrated to Germany in 1998, aged 6. He began playing football with JSG Westerwald's amateur team before moving to VfB Stuttgart at the age of 11.
Merkel moved to Milan, Italy, at the age of 16. During his time in the club's youth program, he was a member of the Coppa Italia Primavera team, ten years after the team's last triumph in the competition.
During the 2009–2010 campaign, Merkel received his first calls for the senior team, but he was never called on nor named on the bench. He appeared in several pre-season games at the start of the season, putting up good results. Merkel made his first-team official debut on December 8, 2010, against Ajax, who was also on the bench against Tottenham on the 75th minute, making him the starting lineup for a match against Cagliari. Milan defeated Bari 3–0 in the Coppa Italia round of 16. Merkel scored his first professional goal on January 20th. In total, he made ten appearances, six of whom were in the league, throughout the season.
Merkel joined Genoa in co-ownership with Milan for €5 million, which, in turn, sold Stephan El Shaarawy in a similar arrangement for €10 million. In a 3–3 win over Nocerina in the third preliminary round of the Coppa Italia, Merkel made his official debut for the club on August 20th. With a left-footed cross to Marco Rossi, Merkel earned his first assist of the season, a 2–2 draw against Juventus. He returned from Genoa on loan from Milan on January 17, 2012. In the 16th round of the 2011–12 Coppa Italia, he made his official re-debut wearing Milan's red-black shirt, beating Novara 2–1 on January 181. On May 23, Genoa acquired the remaining 50% of his rights for another €5 million, making him a full Genoa player as well as El Shaarawy, who relocated to Milan for another €10 million.
As part of Antonio Floro Flores' transfer, 50% registration rights of Merkel (€4 million) and Masahudu Alhassan (€1.5 million) were sold to Udinese Calcio on January 3, 2013 for a total of €5.5 million. Udinese bought them outright for another €1.78 million (€1.16 million and €620,000) in June 2013.
Merkel came from Udinese on loan until the end of the season on January 3rd.
Merkel got off to a 0-1 loss to Reading on January 11, 2014, but he was forced to leave in a second half stoppage time after a lunge on Nick Blackman. In a 3–0 home win over Barnsley on March 15, 2014, Merkel scored his first goal for Watford.
Merkel signed Grasshopper Zürich on a season long loan agreement from parent club Udinese on July 14, 2014.
Merkel recalled his former Milan colleague Gennaro Gattuso, who served as Pisa's boss on July 21. However, Gattuso left the team on July 31, 2016, but the club released her on August 14, 2016.
Merkel formally joined VfL Bochum on August 15, 2016.
Merkel signed Admira Wacker, an Austrian club, on February 5th. In the match against Wolfsberger AC, he scored his first goal.
Merkel signed with Heracles Almelo's Ethnic side on July 29, 2018.
Merkel joined Saudi Professional League team Al-Faisaly on September 14, 2020.
Gaziantep F.K.'s Turkish club Gaziantep F.K. fought on August 19th, 2021. Merkel's signing was announced.
International career
Merkel made his international debut for Germany U-15 in a 4–1 victory over Switzerland, and has since represented Germany at all levels of youth international football up to under 19. In a December 2010 interview, he said he "dreams" of playing for the senior team for one day.
He said in another interview in December 2010 that he is interested in representing Russia. Both Russian Football Union president Sergey Fursenko and Russia's coach Dick Advocaat have said that he would not be called up because he does not have Russian citizenship. Given that an American-born Jon Robert Holden played for the Russian national basketball team, Merkel said that naturalization would not be a problem.
In February 2011, Merkel's advisor Arthur Beck, the father of German international Andreas Beck, announced that the player's renewed aspirations for Germany had been fulfilled.
Merkel made the decision to play for the Kazakhstan national team in March 2015. In a qualifying match for Euro 2016, he made his debut against Iceland.