Patrik Schick

Patrik Schick (born 24 January 1996) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga 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. He spent the 2015–16 season on loan with Bohemians 1905, from where he moved at the age of 20 to Sampdoria in Italy. After his debut season in Italy, he moved to Roma in 2017. Having spent three years in Italy, Schick moved to Germany in 2019 to join RB Leipzig on a season-long loan before moving to Bayer Leverkusen on a permanent basis in September 2020. There he won a domestic double of the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal in 2024.

Formerly an international at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels, Schick made his senior debut for the Czech Republic in May 2016 at the age of 20. He has since helped the national team 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.