Mikael Ishak

Mikael Ishak (ميكائيل إسحاق; born 31 March 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Lech Poznań, which he captains. Beginning his career with Assyriska FF in 2010, he has gone on to play professionally in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, and Poland. A full international since 2015, he has won seven caps and scored one goal for the Sweden national team. He represented the Sweden Olympic team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Early life and career
Ishak's parents were Assyrian migrants from Syria. He was born in Södertälje, Sweden and started his professional career at Assyriska FF, where he was included in the first team in 2010.

1. FC Köln
In December 2011, Ishak was signed by German Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln after a successful trial. He made his debut for the side on 21 January 2012 in a 1–0 away defeat at VfL Wolfsburg, where he came on as a substitute in the 85th minute for Martin Lanig. After being used mostly as a substitute during his first month in Köln, Ishak made his first start for the club on 18 March following a suspension for regular striker Lukas Podolski, playing the entire match in a 4–1 away loss at Hannover 96. Ishak would make 11 appearances for 1. FC Köln during his first season.

Loan to FC St. Gallen
In February 2013, Ishak signed a six-month loan deal with Swiss club FC St. Gallen, who had recently been promoted to the Swiss Super League, in order to play more. He became a regular starter for the club, before suffering a mandibular fracture in a match for the Sweden under-21 team. Ishak made his return in late-April as a substitute in a match against FC Zürich, before becoming a full-time starter again the following week. He made a total of 13 league appearances for St. Gallen, in which he scored three goals.

Parma
Ishak joined Italian Serie A club Parma on a four-year contract on 5 August 2013.

Loan to Crotone
He was loaned out to Crotone, competing in the Serie B, following his arrival. He made his debut for Crotone on 24 August 2013 in a match against Siena. On 24 September, he scored his first goal for the side in a 3–1 home win over Modena.

Randers
In August 2014, a year after joining Parma, Ishak moved to Danish Superliga club Randers FC, signing a three-year contract. He would play for the club for two-and-a-half years, scoring 31 goals in 71 league appearances.

1. FC Nürnberg
After a highly successful stay at Randers, Ishak joined German 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg in January 2017, six months before his contract expired. He scored Nürnberg's 1000th goal in the 2. Bundesliga on 25 November 2017 in a match against Eintracht Braunschweig. At the end of the 2017–18 season, he reached promotion to the Bundesliga with the club. Ishak scored his first goal in the Bundesliga on 1 September 2018, an important equalizer in the away game against Mainz 05, which ended 1–1.

Lech Poznań
On 14 July 2020, Ishak joined Polish club Lech Poznań on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract. He was given the shirt number 9, previously worn by the outgoing Danish striker Christian Gytkjær. In his first season in Poland, despite missing over a dozen games due to health issues, he was Lech's top scorer with 20 goals, including two strikes against Benfica and three goals against Standard Liège in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stages.

Despite missing out on European competitions, the 2021–22 campaign was successful for both Lech and Ishak, who improved both health-wise and stats-wise. Named captain before the start of the season, the Swedish striker scored 18 league goals to lead Lech to their eighth Ekstraklasa title, including a 88th-minute winner against Piast Gliwice on 8 May 2022, which put Lech on top of the league table with two games to go.

Ishak opened the 2022–23 campaign season by scoring the only goal in a UEFA Champions League first qualifying round match against Azerbaijani side Qarabağ on 5 July 2022. Although marred by health concerns throughout the season, he appeared in all but one of Lech's twenty games across their European campaign, scoring nine goals as the Poznań outfit reached the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals. In November 2022, he extended his deal until the end of June 2025, reportedly becoming the highest-earning player in Ekstraklasa at the time. With 20 goals to his name across all competitions, he was the club's best scorer for the third season in a row.

On 13 April 2024, Ishak became Lech's top foreign scorer of all time, taking the title away from Gytkjær, after scoring his 66th goal in a 2–1 away loss against Puszcza Niepołomice.

Youth
Ishak represented the Sweden U21 team at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and played in four games as Sweden won the entire tournament. He was also a part of the Sweden Olympic team that competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and scored in a group stage game against Colombia before Sweden was knocked after only three games.

Senior
Ishak made his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 15 January 2015 in a friendly 2–0 win against the Ivory Coast, coming on as a substitute for Isaac Kiese Thelin in the 82nd minute. He scored his first international goal for Sweden on 6 January 2016 in a 1–1 tie with Estonia. Ishak made his competitive international debut for Sweden on 24 September 2022 in a 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B game against Serbia, coming on as a substitute for Dejan Kulusevski in the 85th minute of a 1–4 loss.

International

 * Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ishak goal.

Honours
Lech Poznań
 * Ekstraklasa: 2021–22

Sweden U21
 * UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2015

Individual
 * Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: May 2022
 * Ekstraklasa Forward of the Season: 2021–22
 * Piłka Nożna Foreigner of the Year: 2022