Patrik Schick

Patrik Schick (born 24 January 1996) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Bayer Leverkusen and the Czech Republic national team.

Born in Prague, Schick began his career with local club Sparta Prague, rising through their youth ranks, before making his senior debut as a teenager. In 2016, at the age of 20, he earned a move to Sampdoria in Italy after an impressive spell with Bohemians 1905. After an impressive debut season in Italy, he moved to Roma in 2017 for a reported club-record fee. In 2019, Schick moved to Germany to join RB Leipzig on a season-long loan before moving to Bayer Leverkusen on a permanent basis in September 2020, winning the Bundesliga title in 2024, and the DFB Pokal in the same season.

Formerly an international at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels, Schick made his debut for the Czech Republic in May 2016 at the age of 20. He has made 40 appearances for his national team and helped them reach the quarter-finals of the European Championship in 2021, where he won both the Goal of the Tournament and the Silver Boot awards as the joint-highest goalscorer of the tournament.

Sparta Prague
Patrik Schick was born in Prague and spotted by Sparta Prague when he was 11 years old. He made his top-flight debut for Sparta on 3 May 2014 in a 3–1 away loss at Teplice. Sparta would win the domestic double that campaign but four appearances over two campaigns meant Schick crossed town to join Bohemians 1905 on loan for the 2015–16 season. He scored 8 goals in 27 outings for Bohemians during a relegation battle. Schick returned to Sparta and was expected to feature prominently for the club during the 2016–17 season, but David Lafata was preferred and when Sparta offered Schick a new contract, his agent turned it down.

Sampdoria
Schick signed for Serie A club Sampdoria in June 2016 for a reported fee of €4 million. In his first season in Italy, he appeared in 32 league matches and scored 11 goals for Sampdoria. He started 14 times and was able to score once every 137 minutes.

In May 2017, Schick refused to extend his contract, expecting a transfer to another club. In June 2017, Juventus triggered the release clause of a reported €30 million on Schick's contract. Schick failed two separate medicals and Juventus backed out of the deal on 18 July.

Roma
On 29 August 2017, Schick joined Roma on loan for a fee of €5 million with an option to buy for a further €9 million, once certain sporting objectives had been achieved, that could be rising up to a club record €40 million fee, which turn out to be unavailable. Upon signing, Roma sporting director Monchi described Schick as "one of the brightest prospects in international football." Schick spent most of his spell at Roma playing out on the right wing or left up front by himself, and he scored only eight times in 58 games.

2019–20 season: Loan to RB Leipzig
On 2 September 2019, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig announced the signing of Schick on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy him permanently. His first goal for Leipzig came in a 3–2 defeat of SC Paderborn on 11 November 2019. This started a run of three goals in four league appearances including coming off the bench to complete the comeback and secure a 3–3 draw with Borussia Dortmund. Alongside Timo Werner, Schick rekindled his form with 10 goals in 28 games for Leipzig as the club finished in third place in the Bundesliga and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Bayer Leverkusen
On 8 September 2020, Schick joined Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract for a reported fee of €26.5 million plus bonuses, getting the number 14 on his jersey.

2020–21 season: Debut season
Schick scored his first goal in a UEFA competition on 26 November 2020, coming in a 4–1 victory over Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the group stage of the Europa League. On December 19th, 2020, Schick scored a volley against Bayern Munich. He scored again on a one-v-one but was offside and the game ended a 2-1 loss for Leverkusen. He was the preferred centre-forward for much of the 2020–21 campaign at the BayArena and finished with nine strikes across 29 league games.

2021–22 season: Record breaking season
On 4 October 2021, Schick scored his first brace for Leverkusen and provided an assist against Armenia Bielefeld which ended 4-0 win. Schick continued his goalscoring threat scoring once in the next two league games against 1. FC Köln and Bayern Munich before he tore his ankle ligament. On 4 December 2021, Schick scored four goals and provided an assist, all in the second half, in a 7–1 win over Greuther Fürth, which is the most goals in a single game from an individual in Leverkusen's history. He continued his good form in Leverkusen's next two league games, scoring a brace in each match against Eintracht Frankfurt (not only a brace but also the 5000th penalty scored in the Bundesliga's history), and Hoffenheim respectively. Because of this, Schick won Bundesliga Player of the month by scoring eight goals and one assist in the four matches he played. In the first half of the season, Schick scored 16 goals in 14 games, while also missing a few games due to injury, and was only behind Robert Lewandowski in the top goalscoring charts.

At the start of the second half of the season, Schick scored four times across six league fixtures. In the sixth game against FSV Mainz he scored a long range shot outside the box. In the same game, in the 49th minute, Schick tore his muscle fiber in the calf region and had to be sit out for the next six games. He scored four goals and provided two assists in the last four matchdays of the 2021–22 season most notably the double against TSG Hoffenheim which secured his clubs place for Champions league next season and just missing out on the goalscoring record held by Stefan Kießling by a single goal. He ended the season as second top scorer with 24 goals and five assists in 27 matches, while winning the player of the season award in Leverkusen, then extended his contract with the club until 2027.

2022–23 season: Injury crisis
On 3 September 2022, Schick scored his first goal of the season against SC Freiburg. On September 7th, Champions league against Club Brugge Schick scored a header which was controversially ruled out from VAR, 10 minutes after Schick scored a Bicycle Kick which was ruled out for offside. Schick made it back to back games scoring and this time was against Hertha BSC. Schick received an adductor injury. On February 19th 2023 he scored immediately off the bench after being out for several weeks against Mainz. He again was involved in a goal and provided an assist in a 4-1 win against Hertha Berlin. Schick got an adductor injury again, which meant he would miss the rest of the season and the first half of the next season, overall missing 34 matches due to injury in this season.

2023–24 season: Comeback and historic success
Despite being injured for about 300 days, Schick made a comeback on 30 November 2023 and scored a goal in a 2–0 away win against BK Häcken in the 2023–24 Europa League, then went on to score five more goals and provide one assist in six more matches in all competitions. On 3 December, he came on as a substitute in the 79th minute and went on to assist a vital goal in the same minute to Victor Boniface against Borussia Dortmund to extend Leverkusen's unbeaten streak. On 20 December, he scored a first half hat-trick against VfL Bochum which ended in a 4–0 victory.

In March 2024, Schick scored three critical goals to keep Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League in their round of 16 tie against Qarabağ FK. In the first leg in Baku, he scored the equalizing stoppage-time goal for Leverkusen, ending in a 2–2 draw. In the following leg, he scored two stoppage-time goals to end the game in a 3–2 victory. On 30 March, he scored a stoppage-time winner in a 2–1 victory over Hoffenheim, which secured his club's qualification to the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League group stage on matchday 27. On matchday 32 against Eintracht Frankfurt, Schick scored the winning header to make it 2–1 and finished 5–1 victory for Leverkusen to extend their 48-game unbeaten streak. In matchday 33 against Vfl Bochum, Schick scored the winning goal to make it 1–0 and which ended 5-0 victorious for Leverkusen to make history for the 50th game unbeaten. On the final matchday in the Bundesliga season Schick was a part of the first ever unbeaten Bundesliga season with Leverkusen. In the Dfb Pokal final against FC Kaiserslautern, Schick helped his team win it to make it a special double trophy winning season, then he prepared for the upcoming Euro 2024.

International career
Schick was called up to the Czech Republic senior side for the first time at their pre-UEFA Euro 2016 training camp. He debuted in a friendly match against Malta on 27 May 2016, resulting in a 6–0 victory.

UEFA Euro 2020
On 25 May 2021, Schick was included in the Czech Republic's final 26-man squad for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. In the first group stage match against Scotland on 14 June at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Schick scored both goals as the Czech Republic won 2–0. The second strike from the halfway line was the longest-recorded goal at the Euros since 1980 at 45 metres. The goal was later voted as the "goal of the tournament", and was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award. He became the first Czech player since Tomáš Rosický at the 2006 FIFA World Cup to score a brace at a major tournament and the first since Milan Baroš in 2004 to do so at the European Championship.

Against Croatia on 18 June, Schick scored from a penalty to help his side earn a 1–1 draw. On 27 June, he scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the Czech Republic's impressive victory over the Netherlands in the round of 16. On 3 July, he scored in a 2–1 controversial defeat against Denmark in the quarter-finals, to equal Milan Baroš' record of five goals for the Czech Republic in a European Championship tournament. Alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, he was the UEFA Euro 2020 joint top scorer with five goals, with the higher number of goals scored from open play.

In the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers against Belarus, Schick scored and provided Hlozek's first goal for the national team, and it ended a comfortable 2-0 win. He was injured for the remaining fixtures and the Czechs failed to qualify. On 27th September 2022, in a match against Switzerland in the Nations League, Schick scored a goal after being injured for many months and sidelined away from the national team for almost a year, but the Czechs lost 2-1 at the end.

On 10 June 2024, Schick had a goal ruled offside against North Macedonia, but did score from the penalty spot to make it 1-0, which ended as a 2-1 win for the Czechs for their final warm up game for the upcoming Euros.

UEFA Euro 2024
On 29th of May 2024, Schick was included in the final selection ahead of the Euros. On matchday 2 in the group stage, Schick scored the equalizer against Georgia to make it 1-1, which was also his 20th goal for the national team, but then he got a calf injury 10 minutes after and had to come off. He also broke the goalscoring record for the Czech Republic in the Euros by scoring six, previously held by Milan Baros.

Style of play
Although Schick mostly plays in a central role as a main striker, due to his eye for goal, heading accuracy, and striking ability with his left foot, he is also capable of playing as a second striker or as a right winger. He can utilise his physique to hold up the ball with his back to goal, but is also a quick, elegant and agile player, who possesses good technique and dribbling skills, as well as good link-up play, which enables him to play the ball first time, participate in the build-up of attacking plays and provide assists. Schick is also known for his signature celebration: every time he scores a goal, he flexes his muscles in front of the fans.

Personal life
Schick has an older sister, Kristýna Schicková (born 31 July 1994), who is a model and a social media influencer. In his teenage years, Schick considered a career as a model but focused on competitive football instead. Growing up, his footballing hero was Manchester United player Wayne Rooney.

In July 2020, Schick married his long-time girlfriend Hana Běhounková (born 1996). They have two children named Victoria and Nico, born in October 2020 and 2021 respectively.

International

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

Honours

 * Sparta Prague
 * Czech First League: 2013–14
 * Czech Cup: 2013–14
 * Czech Supercup: 2014


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


 * Czech Republic
 * China Cup bronze: 2018


 * Individual
 * Czech Footballer of the Year: 2021, 2022
 * Czech Golden Ball: 2022
 * Czech Talent of the Year: 2016
 * UEFA European Championship Silver Boot: 2020
 * UEFA Euro Goal of the Tournament: 2020
 * Bundesliga Player of the Month: December 2021
 * kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2021–22