Isak Malcolm Kwaku Hien (born 13 January 1999) is a Swedish 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

and the Sweden national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Hien played youth football for AIK, where he played alongside future professional players

Alexander Isak Alexander Isak (born 21 September 1999) is a Swedish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United and the Sweden men's national football t ...

and Leopold Wahlstedt. In 2016, he signed with

Vasalunds IF Vasalunds IF is a Swedish football club based in Solna, Stockholm. The club is affiliated with Stockholms Fotbollförbund. History Vasalund was formed in 1934 and play in the Swedish Third Division: Ettan Norra. In 2002 the club merged with Es ...

with which he made his senior debut in

Division 1 Norra Ettan Fotboll, or simply Ettan (), which also is its common name in everyday speech, is the third level in the Swedish football league system and consists of 32 Swedish football teams. It was formerly simply known as ''Division 1''. Division 1 ...

in 2017. Up until the age of 21, he operated mainly as a striker, but was convinced to switch to

, and flourished in that new position.

Djurgårdens IF

In 2021, he signed with

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

before going back to Vasalund on loan during the

2021 Superettan The 2021 Superettan was part of the 2021 Swedish football season, and the 22nd season of Superettan, Sweden's second-tier football division in its current format. A total of 16 teams contested the league. Teams A total of 16 teams contested the l ...

season. During the 2022 season, Hien played in 17 games and scored two goals in Allsvenskan before he was signed by

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

Hellas Verona

On 27 August 2022, Hien joined Italian club

on a permanent deal, signing a four-year contract.

Atalanta

On 2 January 2024, Hien joined

side Atalanta, signing a contract until June 2028. The transfer commanded a reported fee of €9 million.

International career

On 14 September 2022, Hien was selected for the Sweden national team for the first time ahead of their

2022–23 UEFA Nations League B The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B was the second division of the 2022–23 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the third season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. ...

games against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. On 24 September 2022, he made his full international debut in a 4–1 loss against Serbia in the

, playing the full 90 minutes at

alongside national team captain

Victor Lindelöf Victor Jörgen Nilsson Lindelöf (; born 17 July 1994) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a defender for and captains the Sweden national team. He is currently a free agent. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a right-back ...

Personal life

Hien was born in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

to a Swedish mother and a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

father of Burkinabé descent. His brother Leon Hien is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Atalanta *

UEFA 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 ...

: 2023–24 Individual * Swedish Defender of the Year: 2024

References

External links

Profile
at the Atalanta BC website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hien, Isak 1999 births Living people Footballers from Stockholm Swedish people of Ghanaian descent Swedish people of Burkinabe descent Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Allsvenskan players Superettan players Serie A players Vasalunds IF players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Ettan Fotboll players Hellas Verona FC players Atalanta BC players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century Swedish sportsmen