Jiří Jarošík (born October 27, 1977) is a Czech football player currently playing for Scottish Premier League club Celtic.
Jarošík signed a three-year deal with Celtic on 19 June 2006 from Chelsea, for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be around the £2 million mark .
He finished a loan period at Birmingham City in May 2006 where he was the club’s joint-top goalscorer with 8 goals, although his goals couldn’t help Birmingham stay in the Premiership and they were relegated in April 2006. Jarosik returned to his club Chelsea not knowing where his future would lie, due to there being heavy competition for places at the club. He then moved to Scottish champions Celtic and scored in his first competitive game against Kilmarnock.
Born in Ústí nad Labem, then Czechoslovakia, Jarošík began his career with Sparta Prague in his native Czech Republic. An attacking midfielder by personal preference, he is versatile enough to play in a more defensive role. Although a slower player, he is considered to be strong in the air due to his height, and he is known for his excellent shot. Jarosík had loan spells at Slovan Liberec before establishing himself in the first team at Sparta. His appearances caught the eye of CSKA Moscow, who paid a then Russian record of about $3.5 million to acquire him in 2003. After a difficult start, Jarosik developed into a premier player in the Russian league.
Jarošík was purchased by Chelsea in January 2005 for an undisclosed fee, thought to be about $7 million. In August 2005, just after Chelsea purchased Michael Essien, he was loaned out to Birmingham City on for the 2005-06 season, where he was the teams top goalscorer, becoming better known for his long range shooting, than the defensive reponsibilities which gave him his name at Moscow.After finishing a disappointing season for the midlands Birmingham had the option to make the deal permanent when the spell ended, but following their relegation, they did not do so.
Jarošík has played for the Czech national team, although he was out of favour for Euro 2004 in Portugal and not included in the squad that represented the Czech Republic at World Cup 2006.