Alexander Merkel

Alexander Merkel (Kazakh: Александр Меркель; born 22 February 1992) is a Kazakh-German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Gaziantep F.K. and Kazakhstan national football team.

Club Career

Early career

Born in Kazakhstan to parents of German ancestry, Merkel moved to Germany in 1998, aged 6. There he started playing football with amateur team JSG Westerwald, before joining VfB Stuttgart at the age of 11.

Milan

In 2008, at age 16, Merkel transferred to Italian side Milan. During his time in the club's youth system, he was a member of the under-20 side who won the Coppa Italia Primavera in 2010, 25 years after the team's last success in the competition.

Merkel received his first call-ups for the senior team during the 2009–10 campaign, but he was never fielded nor named on the bench. At the beginning of the following season, he took part in some pre-season games, putting up good performances. Merkel eventually made his first-team official debut on 8 December 2010, coming off the bench in a UEFA Champions League group stage game against Ajax, He also came off the bench against Tottenham on the 75th Minute for Kevin-Prince Boateng on 6 January 2011, he also made his league debut, figuring in the starting line-up for a match against Cagliari. Merkel went on to score his first professional goal on 20 January, as Milan pulled off a 3–0 win over Bari in the Coppa Italia round of 16. In total, he made ten appearances, six of which were in the league, throughout the season.

Genoa

At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Merkel joined Genoa in co-ownership with Milan, for €5 million, which, in turn, signed Stephan El Shaarawy in a same type of deal, for €10 million. Merkel made his official debut for the club in 4–3 win over Nocerina in third preliminary round of the Coppa Italia, on 20 August 2011. Merkel made his first assist of the season with a left-footed cross to Marco Rossi a 2–2 draw against Ju

This page also has a version in other languages :  Александр Меркель (russian)