Raphaël Merkies (; born 15 April 2002) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who currently plays as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Shandong Taishan. Born in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he plays for the Hong Kong national team.

Club career

HKFC

Merkies began his professional career in 2022 by taking a gap year off university, having been promoted to the

HKFC Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC; ), established in 1886, is a private members' club in Hong Kong. The name reflects the origin as a club for playing association football and rugby. The club is situated in Happy Valley, with the sports pitches ...

first team ahead of the

2022–23 Hong Kong Premier League The 2022–23 Hong Kong Premier League (also known as the BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th season of the Hong Kong Premier League, the top division of Hong Kong football. Teams A total of 10 teams contest th ...

season. The young winger made his league debut in a 1–0 victory over

Sham Shui Po Sham Shui Po () is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui ...

in the opening day fixture. Merkies then scored his first goal for the club weeks later in a

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. T ...

tie against Resources Capital. Merkies departed the club at the end of the season.

Southern

On 10 June 2023, Merkies joined Southern, signing his first professional contract. He went on to take time off school and announced his decision to pursue football as a full-time passion prior to signing with Southern. Merkies netted his first goal for Southern in once again a

Hong Kong Sapling Cup Hong Kong Sapling Cup (), currently known as JC Sapling Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong domestic football (soccer), football competition contested by the Hong Kong Premier League teams. The objective of the Cup is to provide more p ...

tie against his former club

in a 2–2 draw away from home.

Shandong Taishan

On 14 February 2025, Merkies joined

club Shandong Taishan.

International career

On 10 October 2024, Merkies received his

HKSAR passport The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport () is a passport issued to permanent residents of Hong Kong who also hold Chinese citizenship. Note that: The passport is referred to both as the HKSAR Passport and the Hong Kong Special A ...

after staying in Hong Kong for seven years, making him eligible to represent

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

internationally. After acquiring his HKSAR passport, Merkies was named in the 52-man preliminary squad in preparation for the national team's friendly fixtures for November 2024. On 19 March 2025, Merkies made his international debut for

in a friendly match against

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

and scored his first senior goal.

Personal life

Growing up in the suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Merkies moved to

in 2016 aged 14, enrolling in the

French International School of Hong Kong French International School "Victor Segalen" of Hong Kong (FIS, ) is a French international school in Hong Kong. It is the only accredited French school in Hong Kong (linked by an agreement with the Agency for French Teaching Abroad (AEFE). ...

. He is of Dutch and French descent and holds French citizenship. He is also of partial

Laotian Chinese The Laotian Chinese (, ) are Laotian citizens of Han Chinese ancestry. They constitute one of the many Overseas Chinese residing in Southeast Asia. At present, they constitute an estimated 1 to 2 percent of the Laotian population. The Laotian Chi ...

descent from his maternal side of the family.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

International

International goals

References

External links

Raphaël Merkies
at the HKFA
Yau Yee Football League
profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Merkies, Raphaël Living people 2002 births Footballers from Paris Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers French men's footballers Hong Kong people of French descent Hong Kong people of Dutch descent Hong Kong people of Laotian descent French people of Dutch descent French people of Laotian descent Men's association football midfielders Hong Kong Premier League players Chinese Super League players Hong Kong FC (football) players Southern District FC players Shandong Taishan F.C. players French expatriate men's footballers Hong Kong expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong French expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Expatriate men's footballers in China Hong Kong expatriate sportspeople in China Naturalised footballers of Hong Kong 21st-century French sportsmen