Ricardo Kishna (born 4 January 1995) is a Dutch 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Ajax

Born in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, Kishna joined

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in 2010 from

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

at 15 years old, where he had been active in the youth ranks from the age of 9 laying the foundation for his professional career. On 13 May 2011, Kishna signed his first professional contract with Ajax, joining the club until June 2014. He began the 2013–14 season playing for Ajax A1, the club's under-19 team, competing in the Nike A-Juniors Eredivisie and the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

. On 3 January 2014 it was then announced that Kishna,

Jaïro Riedewald Jaïro Jocquim Riedewald (born 9 September 1996) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or left-back for Belgian Pro League club Royal Antwerp. A youth academy product of Ajax, Riedewald spent four seasons ...

and

Riechedly Bazoer Riechedly Guillermo Bazoer (born 12 October 1996) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for Turkish club Konyaspor. Club career Ajax Bazoer joined Ajax on a free from rival Eredivisie club ...

would join the first team on its training camp in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

during the Winter transfer window. After making his debut with the first team in the Antalya Cup, a friendly tournament, on 11 January 2014 against Turkish side

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

, head coach

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, o ...

announced that Kishna would not be returning to the under-19 selection after the Winter break. But would join the reserves team

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

in the Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, while making appearances for the first team. On 15 January 2014 it was announced that Kishna had extended his contract with Ajax for an additional two seasons, now running until the Summer of 2016, with an option for an additional year. He made his professional debut on 17 January 2014 playing for

in the 4–0 away loss against

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch professional football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1925, the club ...

. He was substituted off in the match for Abdel Malek El Hasnaoui in the 59th minute. He scored his first professional goal for Jong Ajax on 10 February 2014 in a 4–1 home win over

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

scoring in the 52nd minute. He then scored again in the following match against first place in the league table

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

, leveling the score 1–1, and helping the reserves team to secure a point. On 19 February 2014 Frank de Boer announced that Kishna was selected as a member of the 18-man squad ahead of the

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 ...

match at home against Red Bull Salzburg, marking the first time he would be selected for the first team in a professional match. He then made his professional debut on 20 February 2014 against Red Bull Salzburg, replacing

Kolbeinn Sigþórsson Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (; born 14 March 1990) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a forward. Kolbeinn came through Víkingur Reykjavik's youth program and made his professional debut with HK Kópavogur at 16 years of ...

in the 60th minute in the 0–3 home defeat. He made his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

debut for the first team three days later in the 4–0 home victory over neighboring AZ, scoring on his league debut in the 61st minute, after being substituted on for

Bojan Krkić Bojan Krkić Pérez (; sr-Cyrl, Бојан Кркић Перез, ; born 28 August 1990), also known as simply Bojan, is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward ...

in the 46th minute of the North Holland derby match.

Lazio

On 29 July 2015, Kishna joined

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

on a four-year contract from

. The reported transfer fee paid to Ajax was €4 million. He scored his first goal on his debut, a 2–1 win over

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on 22 August.

Lille (loan)

On 31 January 2017, Kishna joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

on loan with an option given to Lille to sign him permanently.

ADO Den Haag (loan)

On 31 August 2017, Kishna signed for his former youth club

on a season-long loan deal. On 31 August 2018, Kishna joined

for the second time until 30 June 2019. After three years out due to a knee injury, he finally returned to the pitch in November 2020 coming on as a substitute in an Eredivisie match against Heerenveen.

International career

Kishna made his debut for the Netherlands national team in the youth ranks, appearing for the under-15 selection in an International friendly match against Turkey U-15 on 8 December 2009. The match ended in a 2–1 victory at home for the Dutch. He then went on to make four more appearances for the under-15 side. He made his debut for the Netherlands U-16 side on 26 October 2010 in the Tournoi du Val-de-Marne in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, playing against France U-16 in a 1–2 away win. Making two further appearances, while scoring once.

Personal life

Born in

, Kishna is of

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se-Dutch descent, with his father being of

Indo-Surinamese Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese, or Hindustani Surinamese are nationals of Suriname who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent. Their ancestors were indentured labourers brought by the Dutch and the British to the Dutch colony of S ...

origin and his mother from the Netherlands.

Career statistics

Club

¹ Includes

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 ...

and

matches.
² Includes

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football ...

and

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

matches.

Honours

Club

Ajax *

: 2013–14 *

Eusébio Cup The Eusébio Cup is a pre-season friendly Association football, football match hosted by Portuguese club S.L. Benfica since 2008. It has been played mostly at their home stadium, Estádio da Luz, with the two exceptions being the 2015 and 2018 ...

: 2014

References

External links

Voetbal International profile

Ajax Inside ProfileRicardo Kishna
at Topforward
Netherlands U15 stats
at OnsOranje
Netherlands U16 stats
at OnsOranje * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kishna, Ricardo 1995 births Living people Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Dutch people of Indo-Surinamese descent Sportspeople of Indian descent Footballers from The Hague Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in France Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Serie A players Ligue 1 players AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players SS Lazio players Lille OSC players ADO Den Haag players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen