Wikipedia

Kaan Kairinen

Kasper Kaan Özden Kairinen (born 22 December 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer, who plays as a central midfielder for Czech First League club Sparta Prague and the Finland national team.

Kaan Kairinen
Kairinen with Inter Turku in 2015
Personal information
Full name Kasper Kaan Özden Kairinen
Date of birth (1998-12-22) 22 December 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Turku, Finland
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sparta Prague
Number 6
Youth career
TuNL
0000–2015 Inter Turku[1]
2016–2018 Midtjylland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Inter Turku 27 (0)
2016–2020 Midtjylland 5 (0)
2017 → Skive IK (loan) 6 (0)
2018 → Inter Turku (loan) 6 (0)
2019 → HJK (loan) 24 (2)
2020 → Lillestrøm (loan) 28 (4)
2021–2022 Lillestrøm 42 (2)
2023– Sparta Prague 58 (3)
International career‡
2014–2015 Finland U17 10 (0)
2015–2016 Finland U19 7 (0)
2017–2020 Finland U21 19 (4)
2019– Finland 19 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2024

Early life

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Kairinen was born to a Turkish father and a Finnish mother in Turku, and was raised in Runosmäki.[2]

Club career

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Inter Turku

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Kairinen is a youth exponent from FC Inter Turku. He made his Veikkausliiga debut at 25 October 2014 against FF Jaro, coming on as a substitute for Kalle Kauppi after 70 minutes in a 1–0 home defeat.[3] Kairinen became the second-youngest player in Inter Turku's history to play for the club, since he made his debut at the age of 15. In October 2015, Kairinen was named among the top 50 best young talents in world football by The Guardian.[4] He also spent time with Juventus on trial and was offered a contract.[5]

Midtjylland and loans

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On 1 February 2016, it was confirmed by FC Midtjylland, that they had signed with Kairinen for an undisclosed fee.[6]

On 14 November 2018, Midtjylland announced that Kairinen would spend 2019 at HJK Helsinki on a loan deal.[7]

Lillestrøm

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Kairinen had a successful loan spell with Lillestrøm SK in Norway in the 2020 season, after which the club gained a promotion to Eliteserien. After the season, Kairinen transferred to Lillestrøm on a permanent contract, signing a four-year deal, for a transfer fee of €300,000.[8][9] In late 2021, he suffered from a long-lasted foot injury, which was eventually operated in January 2022 by surgeon Lasse Lempainen in Turku, Finland.[10]

Sparta Prague

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2022–23 season

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On 20 December 2022, it was confirmed by Sparta Prague, that they had signed with Kairinen on a deal until 30 June 2026, [11] for a reported fee of €1.5 million.[12] Kairinen scored a goal and provided an assist in his debut in Czech First League on 5 February 2023, in a 4–1 home win against Mladá Boleslav.[13] During his first season in Prague, he helped the club to win their first Czech championship title since 2014.[14]

2023–24 season

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On 16 March 2024, Kairinen extended his contract with Sparta until 30 June 2028.[15][16][17] Kairinen recorded 12 appearances and provided four assists in Sparta's 2023–24 UEFA Europa League campaign, helping his side to advance to the round of 16, where they were eventually defeated by Liverpool.[18] On 18 May 2024, after an away win against Mladá Boleslav, Kairinen and Sparta secured their second Czech First League championship title in a row.[19] On 22 May 2024, Kairinen and Sparta were crowned the 2023–24 Czech Cup champions after beating Viktoria Plzen 2–1 in the final,[20] completing Sparta's first double since 2014.

2024–25 season

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He missed the start of the 2024–25 season due to a leg injury he suffered in May,[21] and returned to the line-up in the end of July 2024, in a win against FK Teplice.[22] One month later, Kairinen and Sparta qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League after defeating Malmö FF 4–0 on aggregate in the qualifying play-off round,[23] making it the club's first appearance in the UCL final competition in 19 years. On 18 September, he scored in his debut in the UCL league phase, an opening goal in a 3–0 home win against RB Salzburg,[24] becoming the 13th Finnish player to score in the Champions League.[25] On 1 October, Kairinen scored again in his second UCL match, an equalizer from a free-kick past Alexander Nübel, in a 1–1 away draw against VfB Stuttgart.[26] After the goal, his player profile in Transfermarkt was temporarily among the most popular profiles in the website.[27][28]

International career

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A former regular youth international, Kairinen debuted for the Finland senior national team on 8 January 2019[29][30][31] in a friendly match against Sweden, as a substitute for Rasmus Schüller in the 54th minute.[32]

Personal life

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Kairinen has two siblings; an older brother and a younger sister. At the age of five, Kairinen suffered a tragic loss when his father passed away.[33] He has openly told about the eating disorder and depression he suffered during his time with Midtjylland, which almost ended his career prematurely.[34][35][36]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 18 December 2024[37]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Inter Turku 2014 Veikkausliiga 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
2015 Veikkausliiga 25 0 3 0 4 0 — 32 0
2016 Veikkausliiga 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 0
Total 26 0 3 0 5 0 0 0 34 0
Midtjylland 2016–17 Danish Superliga 2 0 0 0 — 0 0 2 0
2017–18 Danish Superliga 3 0 0 0 — 0 0 3 0
Total 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Skive IK (loan) 2017 Danish 1st Division 6 0 0 0 — — 6 0
Inter Turku (loan) 2018 Veikkausliiga 6 0 0 0 — — 6 0
HJK (loan) 2019 Veikkausliiga 24 2 5 1 — 6[c] 0 35 3
Lillestrøm (loan) 2020 1. divisjon 28 4 0 0 — — 28 4
Lillestrøm 2021 Eliteserien 20 1 1 0 — — 21 1
2022 Eliteserien 22 1 2 0 — 4[d] 0 28 1
Total 42 2 3 0 0 0 4 0 49 2
Sparta Prague 2022–23 Czech First League 15 1 3 0 — — 18 1
2023–24 Czech First League 28 2 2 0 — 14[c] 0 44 2
2024–25 Czech First League 15 0 1 0 – 10[e] 2 26 2
Total 58 3 6 0 0 0 24 2 88 5
Career total 195 11 17 1 5 0 34 2 253 14
  1. ^ Includes Finnish Cup, Norwegian Cup and Czech Cup
  2. ^ Includes Finnish League Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Conference League
  5. ^ Appearances UEFA Champions League

International

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As of match played on 17 November 2024.
National team Year Competitive Friendly Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Finland 2019 0 0 2 0 2 0
2020 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021 2[a] 0 1 0 3 0
2022 2[b] 0 0 0 2 0
2023 8[c] 0 0 0 8 0
2024 3[d] 0 1 0 4 0
Total 15 0 4 0 19 0
  1. ^ Appearances in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
  2. ^ Appearances in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B.
  3. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualification.
  4. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualification play-offs and 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B.

Honours

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Sparta Prague

Lillestrøm

Midtjylland

Individual

References

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  1. ^ Tulospalvelu Palloliitto
  2. ^ Interin Kairiselta odotetaan ihmeitä (in Finnish) Turun Sanomat
  3. ^ "Inter Turku vs. Jaro - 25 October 2014 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Next Generation 2015: 50 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023.
  5. ^ Mestarien liigassa suuren suomalaisen tarinan ainekset – Kaan Kairinen noussut jo suuriin siirtospekulaatioihin, APU, 3 October 2024
  6. ^ FCM sikrer sig finsk midtbanetalent, fcm.dk, 1 February 2016
  7. ^ Kaan Kairinen udlejes til den finske mesterklub, fcm.dk, 14 November 2018
  8. ^ Kaan Kairinen teki sopimuksen Norjan liigaan nousseen Lilleströmin kanssa, Yle, 15 December 2020
  9. ^ Norjan pääsarjaan nouseva suomalaispelintekijä avoimena – ”Kovempi vaatimustaso kuin HJK:ssa”, mtvuutiset.fi|MTV Oy, Timo Innanen, 12 December 2020
  10. ^ IL: Huuhkajien keskikenttämies joutui jalkaleikkaukseen – missaako kauden alun?, suomifutis.com, 19 January 2022
  11. ^ "Na Spartu přichází Kaan Kairinen". Sparta Prague (in Czech). 20 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Miljoonasiirto talvella ja nyt Tšekin mestariksi: Kaan Kairisella huippukevät". Yle (in Finnish). 24 May 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Sparta Prague vs. Mladá Boleslav 4 - 1". soccerway. 5 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Sparta v euforii! Remíza na Slovácku odstartovala mistrovské oslavy". Sport.cz (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  15. ^ Ikola, Eetu (16 March 2024). "Huuhkajien huippupelaaja teki kovan sopimuksen!". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). MTV Oy. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Kairinen prodloužil smlouvu". Sparta Prague (in Czech). 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  17. ^ Suomalaistähti teki huippudiilin – Elää kaupungissa, jossa tapahtuu ”käsittämättömiä juttuja”, Iltalehti, 20 March 2024
  18. ^ Liverpool murskasi Huuhkajat-tähden, Iltalehti, 14 March 2024
  19. ^ a b Liigamestaruus ja cup-pokaali – Huuhkajien pelaajille menestystä eurokentillä, mtvuutiset.fi, MTV Oy, 19 May 2024
  20. ^ Neumann, Robert (22 May 2024). "Sparta slaví double! Triumf v nervózním finále trefil Birmančevič". Sport.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  21. ^ Kaan Kairisen loukkaantumisesta synkkä arvio, suomifutis.com, 14 May 2024
  22. ^ Kaan Kairinen palasi pelikentille, huuhkajat.com, 28 July 2024
  23. ^ Kaan Kairisen joukkue Mestarien liigaan, Yle, 28 August 2024
  24. ^ Suuri suomalainen jalkapallohetki! Kaan Kairinen iski maalin Mestarien liigassa, mtvuutiset.fi, MTV Oy, 18 September 2024
  25. ^ Kairinen maalasi Mestarien liigassa – Pohjanpalo Serie A:ssa, Football Association of Finland, 24 September 2024
  26. ^ Kaan Kairinen täräytti ilmiömäisen maalin Mestarien liigassa – Tuomas Virkkunen repesi liitoksistaan: "Aivan mieletön vapaapotku!", mtvuutiset.fi, MTV Oy, 1 October 2024
  27. ^ ”Tuntematon suomalainen rikkoi internetin” – Kaan Kairinen nousi hetkessä kuumaksi nimeksi, Helsingin Sanomat, 1 October 2024
  28. ^ Tämä kuva paljastaa: Suomalaismies on koko futismaailman huulilla, Iltalehti, 1 October 2024
  29. ^ Huuhkajien uusiin kasvoihin lukeutuva Kaan Kairinen ottaa askeleita kohti huippua Tšekin suurseurassa, jalkapallon-em.fi, 23 March 2023
  30. ^ Pelkkä debyytti ei tyydyttänyt - Huuhkajien ensikertalaisella kova tavoite perjantaina, veikkausliiga.com, 9 January 2019
  31. ^ Huuhkajien ryhmään vielä muutos – tällä ringillä Ruotsia ja Viroa vastaan, Länsiväylä, 2 January 2019
  32. ^ "Sweden v Finland game report". Eurosport. 8 January 2019.
  33. ^ Pimeydestä valoon, X-lehti, 16 March 2024
  34. ^ Jalkapalloilija Kaan Kairisen syömishäiriö alkoi 17-vuotiaana joukkueen punnituksista: ”Vertailimme tuloksiamme – kilpailu meni liian pitkälle”, seura.fi, 2 June 2022
  35. ^ Superlupauksen pitkä polku, Helsingin Sanomat, Ari Virtanen, 4 September 2021
  36. ^ Andrea Pirloon verrattu suomalaislupaus sairastui syömishäiriöön ja ajautui syvälle – Kaan Kairinen sai vaikeuksien jälkeen miljoonasiirron, Yle, 6 January 2023
  37. ^ "Kaan Kairinen". soccerway.
  38. ^ Kai (30 October 2015). "Tässä ovat Captain's Ball -futisgaalan kaikki palkitut tahot". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  39. ^ Is, Stt- (3 November 2017). "Filip Valencic on Veikkausliigan kauden paras pelaaja". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
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