Patrik Schick

Patrik Schick

Schick with RB Leipzig in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Patrik Schick
Date of birth	(1996-01-24) 24 January 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Prague, Czech Republic
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Bayer Leverkusen
Number	14
Youth career
2007–2014	Sparta Prague
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2016	Sparta Prague	4	(0)
2015–2016	→ Bohemians 1905 (loan)	27	(8)
2016–2017	Sampdoria	32	(11)
2017–2020	Roma	46	(5)
2019–2020	→ RB Leipzig (loan)	22	(10)
2020–	Bayer Leverkusen	85	(41)
International career‡
2011	Czech Republic U16	2	(0)
2012–2013	Czech Republic U17	11	(7)
2013–2014	Czech Republic U18	9	(2)
2014–2015	Czech Republic U19	13	(7)
2015–2017	Czech Republic U21	12	(11)
2016–	Czech Republic	37	(18)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:10, 14 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024

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.

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 over 30 caps for his national team and helped them reach the quarter-finals of the European Championship in 2020, where he won both the Goal of the Tournament and the Silver Boot awards as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament.

Sparta Prague

The Prague-born player was 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 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 find the back of the net once every 137 minutes.

In May 2017, he 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 millions 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 8 times in 58 games.

2019–20 season: Loan to RB Leipzig

On 2 September 2019, 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. He 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. Schick was the preferred centre-forward for much of the 2020–21 campaign at the BayArena and finished with 9 strikes across 29 league games.

On 4 December 2021, Schick scored four goals, all in the second half, in a 7–1 win over Greuther Fürth. Schick continued his good form in Leverkusen's next two league games, scoring a brace in each match against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hoffenheim respectively. Patrik Schick scored four goals and provided 2 assists in the last 4 matchdays of the Bundesliga season and just missing out on the goal scoring record held by Kießling by a single goal. He ended the 2021–22 Bundesliga season as second top scorer with 24 goals and 5 assists in 27 matches, then extended his contract with the club until 2027.

Despite being injured for about 300 days, Schick made a comeback in November 30th against Hacken and scored, then went on to score 5 more goals and provide 1 assist in 6 more matches in all competitions. On December 4th, Patrik Schick came on as a substitute in the 79th minute and go on to assist a vital goal in the same minute to Victor Boniface to extend Leverkusen's unbeaten streak. On December 21st 2023, Schick scored a first half hattrick against Bochum which ended 4-0 victorious. In March, Schick scored three critical goals to keep Bayer Leverkusen in the 2023–24 Europa League in their round of 16 tie against Qarabağ FK. In the first leg in Baku, Schick scored the equalizing stoppage-time goal for Leverkusen, ending in a 2–2 draw. In the following leg Schick 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.

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 (49 yd). 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 Championships.

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 shock victory over the Netherlands in the round of 16. On 3 July, he scored in a 2–1 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 of number of goals scored from an open 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 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, he married his long-time partner Hana Běhounková (born 1996). They have two children named Victoria and Nico, born in October 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Club

As of match played 14 April 2024