Alex Král (born 19 May 1998) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for German club

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

. Born in Slovakia, he represents the Czech Republic national team at international level.

Early life

Born in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, Král's family moved to Štýřice,

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

in the Czech Republic, when he was a child. He began playing football at SK Moravská Slavia Brno aged six, before joining

Zbrojovka Brno Zbrojovka Brno, s.r.o is a maker of small arms in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic, wholly owned by Colt CZ Group, Colt-CZ Group. In the past it also made light artillery, cars, motorcycles, tractors and various tools, such as typewriters and early c ...

aged nine. At 14, he was scouted and recruited by

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

moving to Prague to continue his development.

Club career

Slavia Prague

In January 2019, he signed a four-year contract with

Spartak Moscow

On 1 September 2019, he signed a five-year contract with the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club Spartak Moscow. He has since played for the club for several seasons, which included participation in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

Loan to West Ham United

On 31 August 2021, Král joined English side

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

on a season-long loan with an option to make the deal permanent. He made his debut on 22 September in a 1–0 win against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. His league debut followed when he came on as a substitute in a 4–1 win at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on 28 December 2021. Král made one appearance in the Premier League, three times in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

and once in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and the

before his loan ended.

Contract suspension and Schalke 04

On 1 July 2022, Spartak announced that Král suspended his contract with Spartak Moscow for the 2022–23 season using FIFA's special regulations related to the international response and other fallout from the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. On 14 July 2022,

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

announced the signing of Král to a one-year contract, and under FIFA regulations he remained a Spartak player temporarily playing for Schalke 04.

Union Berlin

On 2 June 2023,

announced the signing of Král ahead of the new

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. In his first season at the club, Král made 24 appearances in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, two appearances in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

, and a further six appearances in Union Berlin's maiden campaign in the Champions League.

Loan to Espanyol

On 7 August 2024, Král was loaned out to newly promoted

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side Espanyol.

International career

Král made his debut for the Czech Republic national team on 26 March 2019 in a friendly against Brazil, as a 69th-minute substitute for

David Pavelka David Pavelka (born 18 May 1991) is a Czech former professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Sparta Prague B and the Czech Republic national team. Club career First spell at Sparta Pavelka started his career with Sparta Prag ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first.''

Honours

Slavia Prague *

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

: 2018–19 *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner ...

: 2018–19 Individual *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

Team of the Tournament:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

* * *
Alex Král
at

West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is a professional football club based in Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, having moved from their ...

(archived) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kral, Alex Living people 1998 births Czech men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FK Teplice players SK Slavia Prague players FC Spartak Moscow players West Ham United F.C. players FC Schalke 04 players 1. FC Union Berlin players RCD Espanyol footballers Czech First League players Russian Premier League players Premier League players Bundesliga players Czech Republic men's youth international footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Czech expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Footballers from Košice Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Footballers from Brno Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century Czech sportsmen