Our champion and cup-winning men's football team signed French attacking midfielder Xavier Mercier, captain of Belgian top flight side OH Leuven, on Tuesday! Our newest player is 32 years old and will join the Ferencváros squad in Austria for a training camp immediately after the announcement.

Career snapshot

Xavier Mercier was born on 25 July 1989 in Alès, France. His first club was US Lesquin, from where he joined Montpellier B in the summer of 2009. From there he moved on to Guingamp B, then back to Lesquin, and finally, through several French teams, he signed abroad in the winter of 2016 - he was signed by Belgian club KV Kortrijk. Mercier has developed a lot at the Belgian first division side, increasing his value from €150,000 to €1 million in a short period of time, up to the summer of 2017, according to Transfermarkt. Then came the next change, with Mercier swapping his Kotrijk jersey for a Cercle Brugge kit.

Then second division Brugge got promoted at the end of his first season there, allowing him to return to the top flight. In the 2018/2019 season, he was awarded the captain's armband on several occasions, scoring 14 goals in 64 Cercle games, while also serving 16 assists. After that, he left Cercle Bruges to join then second division OH Leuven, which he helped to promotion with three goals and 10 assists.

In the previous two seasons, Mercier continued to improve, becoming one of Leuven's best and even leading the team as captain: in the 2020/2021 season he marked 11 goals and 15 assists, while the previous season he registered four goals and 15 assists, making him the Belgian league's 'assist king' in two consecutive seasons. Mercer was also nominated for the Pro League Player of the Year this year.

Although the technical Mercier will be 33 in July, his value continues to grow and he has been counted on as a team captain at his former clubs, as well as a consistent high performer. International cup appearances are still missing from his career - which is why he will be doing his utmost to go as far as possible in Europe with Ferencváros, starting from the Champions League qualifying round.