Mexx Meerdink (born 24 July 2003) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a forward for club

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

Early life

From

Winterswijk Winterswijk (; also known as ''Winterswiek'' or ''Wenters'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. It has a population of and is situated in the Achterhoek, which lies in the easternmost part ...

, Meerdink was in the youth academy at

de Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

from 2012 until 2021 when he signed up to

Jong AZ Jong AZ is a Dutch association football team, based in Wijdewormer in the Zaanstreek. It is the reserve team of AZ, based in Alkmaar, and plays in the Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Net ...

Career

2021: Jong AZ debut

Meerdink made his league debut in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

on 10 December 2021, appearing as a substitute in a 3–2 away defeat to

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

. Meerdink made his first start on 21 January 2022 against

VVV Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following ...

in a youthful team that won 2–0 and in doing so earning the club their first win in four months. As well as Meerdink making a first start,

Misha Engel Misha Engel (born 1 October 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. Career Engel made his league debut for Jong AZ in the Eerste Divisie on 23 August 2021 appearing as a substitute in a 1–0 ...

and Lewis Schouten did as well. The oldest starting player for Jong AZ was 22-year-old Czech Richard Sedláček.

2023: AZ debut

On 7 March 2023 Meerdink made his debut for AZ in the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League was the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. It was won ...

against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

triggering a payment between €40,000 And €50,000 to his former club de Graafschap. On 19 March 2023, he made his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

debut against

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

. Meerdink came off the bench to score the winning penalty in a UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final penalty shoot-out against

RSC Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, commonly abbreviated to RSC Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Div ...

on 20 April 2023. On 24 April 2023, Meerdink scored twice in the 2022–23 UEFA Youth League final against Hajduk Split as AZ ran out 5–0 winners.

2024: Vitesse

On 31 January 2024, Meerdink moved on loan to Vitesse until the end of the season.

2024–25: Return to AZ

Meerdink returned to his parent club AZ ahead of the 2024–25 campaign. On 30 August 2024, Meerdink scored his first

goal in a 3–0 win away at

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

. He played in the final of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

as AZ lost to

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

on penalties on 21 April 2025. The game had ended 1-1 in normal time after Go Ahead Eagles scored a 98th minute equaliser.

Personal life

He is the son of former AZ professional footballer

Martijn Meerdink Martijn Meerdink (born 15 September 1976) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played for AZ Alkmaar as a winger (association football), winger and was capped for the Netherlands national football team, Netherland ...

Career statistics

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meerdink, Mexx 2003 births Living people Eerste Divisie players Jong AZ players Dutch men's footballers Men's association football forwards AZ Alkmaar players SBV Vitesse players Eredivisie players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen