Alexander Merkel (Kazakh: Александр Меркель; born 22 February 1992) is a Kazakh-German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Persian Gulf Pro League club Nassaji Mazandaran.

[2] Born in Kazakhstan to parents of German descent, Merkel initially represented Germany internationally at youth level.

[6] 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.

[4] 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.

[12] 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.

[14][15] 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.

He made his official re-debut wearing Milan's red-black shirt on 18 January, winning 2–1 over Novara in the 16th round of the 2011–12 Coppa Italia.

[20] Merkel made his debut from the start in a 1–0 defeat to Reading on 11 January 2014, but he was sent off in second half stoppage time after a lunge on Nick Blackman.

Merkel noted that naturalization should not be a problem, considering that an American-born Jon Robert Holden played for the Russia national basketball team.