Adam Hložek

Adam Hložek (born 25 July 2002) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Czech Republic national team.

Sparta Prague
Hložek was 12 years old when transferred from his hometown club Ivančice to Sparta Prague along with his older brother Daniel, who was 16 at the time.

Four years later, on 2 October 2018, he made his first team debut in a Czech Cup match against Slavoj Polná as a substitute, scoring the final goal in a 4–1 away win. Hložek made his league debut for Sparta Prague on 10 November 2018 in a 3–1 victory against Karviná at the age of 16 years, three months and 16 days – becoming the youngest Sparta player to appear in a league match.

Hložek finished the 2020–21 Czech First League as joint top scorer, alongside Jan Kuchta with 15 goals, despite missing four months of the season due to injury. On 30 May 2021, a day after scoring four first-half goals in a 6–1 away victory against Zbrojovka Brno, Hložek signed a new contract extension until 2024 with Sparta Prague. Hložek finished the 2020–21 league season with 15 goals and seven assists in 19 games.

Bayer Leverkusen
On 2 June 2022, the winger joined Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, signing a five-year contract, and got the number 23 on his jersey.

2022–23: Debut season
On 30 July 2022, Hložek scored a powerful shot outside the box against Elversberg on his debut. On 22 October 2022, against VFL Wolfsburg, he provided a critical assist to draw 2-2. On 26 October, Adam would provide a vital assist against Atlético Madrid to make it 2-2 in the 2022-23 Champions League. He continued this good form against Union Berlin, which he provided another assist and a backheel goal to make it a comfortable 5-0 victory for Leverkusen. Couple matches after, Hložek had another great performance against Borussia Monchengladbach where he provides two assists in a 3-2 victory. Another couple matches after; Adam would score the winning header against Werder Bremen to make it 3-2 victory. On 20 April 2023, Hložek scored and provided a goal against Union Saint-Gilloise in the 2022-23 Europa League and help Leverkusen to go in the semifinals. On 23 April 2023, Hložek scored a great finish to earn a 2–0 victory for Bayer Leverkusen against RB Leipzig.

2023–24 season
In the first match of the season, Hložek scored twice and provided an assist off the bench during a 8-0 victory against Teutonia 05 in the DFB-Pokal. He scored again against SV Sandhausen in the next round. On 9 February 2023, Hložek scored almost immediately off the bench in a 5-1 victory against SV Darmstadt 98. On 5 October, Hložek provided an assist against Molde FK in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League. He scored a double goal against the Norwegian football club during the second leg which ended in a 5-1 victory for Bayer Leverkusen.

On 17 March 2024, Hložek scored an important goal in a 3–2 victory against SC Freiburg. After returning from an ankle injury which had him ruled out for a month, he provided a hattrick of assists against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 5-1 victory on 5 May 2024 and grabbed man of the match. Hložek played in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League final with a shot outside the box in the last 20 minutes, but could not score and Leverkusen lost their 51-game unbeaten streak after losing 3-0 to Atalanta BC.

International career
On 4 September 2020, Hložek debuted for the Czech senior squad in a UEFA Nations League match against Slovakia.

In May 2021, Hložek was called up by the Czech Republic for the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020. He scored his first international goal in October 2021 in the 2–0 World Cup qualification victory against Belarus.

International

 * Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hložek goal.

Honours
Sparta Prague
 * Czech Cup: 2019–20

Bayer Leverkusen
 * Bundesliga: 2023–24
 * DFB-Pokal: 2023–24

Individual
 * Czech Talent of the Year: 2019
 * Czech First League Top Goalscorer: 2020–21
 * Czech First League Forward of the Year: 2020–21
 * Czech First League Player of the Month: September 2020, May 2021
 * Czech First League Fans' choice Player of the Season: 2019–20, 2021–22