Mark Flekken (born 13 June 1993) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Netherlands national team.
Flekken grew up in Bocholtz, Limburg, Netherlands on the German border.[2] His parents René and Annie used to play football themselves, and his younger brother Roy also became a goalkeeper.[3]
Flekken started his career in the youth department of RKVV WDZ from Bocholtz before moving to the youth academy of Roda JC Kerkrade. In 2009, he moved across the border to the youth teams of the then 2. Bundesliga club Alemannia Aachen. On 22 September 2011, he signed his first professional contract.[4]
During the winter break of the 2012–13 3. Liga season, Flekken was appointed as the starting goalkeeper by coach René van Eck after the financially troubled club had parted ways with Michael Melka.[5][2] Flekken made his debut on 26 January 2013 in a 2–0 home game against 1. FC Saarbrücken.[6]
Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Flekken moved to the 2. Bundesliga club SpVgg Greuther Fürth.[7] There, he only made three league appearances in three years as a backup goalkeeper behind Wolfgang Hesl and Sebastian Mielitz.[1]
Flekken signed for MSV Duisburg on 12 June 2016.[8] On 7 August 2016, he scored a goal, after a corner, in a 1–1 draw against VfL Osnabrück, when he went to the opposite box during the last minute.[9] In February 2018, Flekken conceded a goal in a 2. Bundesliga match against FC Ingolstadt, when he turned his back on the play to take a drink from his water bottle.[10][11]
Flekken joined SC Freiburg for the 2018–19 season.[12] A backup to Alexander Schwolow throughout the season, he made his debut in the final matchday of the 2018–19 season against 1. FC Nürnberg.[13] After Schwolow's departure before the start of the 2020–21 season, he was appointed the new starter, but shortly after he suffered a complicated elbow injury while warming up for the DFB-Pokal match against SV Waldhof Mannheim which sidelined him for the entire season.[14] Meanwhile, he was replaced in goal by Florian Müller, who was on loan from Mainz 05. He returned as the starter in goal on 9 May 2021; before that he had regained match practice with the Freiburg reserves in the Regionalliga Südwest.[15]
Flekken started the 2021–22 season as the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper and, after ten games in a row without defeat, saw the team in third place of the league, to which he had contributed with the league's best rate of shots saved.[16]
On 31 May 2023, Flekken signed for Premier League club Brentford for a reported fee of £11 million.[17]
In his debut season, Flekken recorded seven clean sheets and made 113 saves, ranking eighth in both categories across the Premier League.[18] He also stood out for his distribution, becoming one of only two goalkeepers in the league to register an assist, setting up a goal for Neal Maupay against Manchester City. He made four key passes, the most by any goalkeeper in the division that season.[18]
In February 2024, Flekken won the Premier League Save of the Month award for a reflex save against Pedro Neto of Wolverhampton Wanderers. The stop was later nominated for Premier League Save of the Season.[19] His form across the campaign earned him a call-up to the Netherlands national team for UEFA Euro 2024.[20]
In the 2024–25 season, he maintained a high level of performance and was named Brentford’s Player of the Month for February 2025 after conceding just one goal across three matches, including clean sheets in victories over West Ham United and Leicester City.[21] By April 2025, he had made more saves than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s top five leagues, with 103, and ranked eighth in the Premier League for save percentage at 72.5%.[22] In addition, Flekken was rated as the fifth best goalkeeper in the world according to data from the CIES Football Observatory Index.[23]
Upon the conclusion of the 2024–25 season, he led the Premier League in saves, making 153 with a save percentage of 73.6%.[24]
On 3 June 2025, Flekken signed for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen on a three-year deal for a reported fee of around €10 million.[25][26]
Flekken was called up to the senior Netherlands national team squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Montenegro and Norway on 13 and 16 November 2021, respectively.[27]
Flekken made his international debut for the Netherlands on 26 March 2022 in a friendly match against Denmark.[28]
On 29 May 2024, Flekken was named in the Netherlands' squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[29]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Alemannia Aachen | 2012–13 | 3. Liga | 15 | 0 | — | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| Greuther Fürth II | 2013–14 | Regionalliga Bayern | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | Regionalliga Bayern | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| 2015–16 | Regionalliga Bayern | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 25 | 0 | — | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||||
| Greuther Fürth | 2014–15 | 2. Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | 2. Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| MSV Duisburg | 2016–17 | 3. Liga | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 1 | ||
| 2017–18 | 2. Bundesliga | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| Total | 68 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 70 | 1 | ||||
| SC Freiburg | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 32 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | Bundesliga | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 7[c] | 0 | 44 | 0 | ||
| Total | 80 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 97 | 0 | |||
| SC Freiburg II | 2020–21 | Regionalliga Südwest | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Brentford | 2023–24 | Premier League | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 38 | 0 | |
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | ||
| Total | 74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 77 | 0 | |||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 2025–26 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Career total | 270 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 294 | 1 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2022 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 0 | |
MSV Duisburg
SC Freiburg II
SC Freiburg
Individual
|  | |
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