Kaan Kairinen
Kasper Kaan Kairinen (born 22 December 1998) is a Finnish footballer currently playing for Czech First League club Sparta Prague. He was born to a Turkish father and a Finnish mother in Turku.[1]
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kasper Kaan Kairinen | ||
| Date of birth | 22 December 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Turku, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sparta Prague | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| 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 | 25 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014–2015 | Finland U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Finland U19 | 6 | (0) |
| 2017– | Finland U21 | 10 | (3) |
| 2019– | Finland | 13 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 October 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023 | |||
Club career
FC Inter Turku
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 0–1 home defeat.[2] 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.[3]
FC Midtjylland and loans
On 1 February 2016, it was confirmed by FC Midtjylland, that they had signed with Kairinen.[4]
On 14 November 2018, Midtjylland announced that Kairinen would spend 2019 at HJK Helsinki on a loan deal.[5]
AC Sparta Prague
On 20 December 2022, it was confirmed by Sparta Prague, that they had signed with Kairinen on a deal until 30 June 2026.[6] The transfer fee was reported to be €1.5 million.[7] During his first season in Prague, he helped the club to win its first championship title since 2014.[8]
International
He made his debut for the Finland national football team on 8 January 2019 in a friendly against Sweden, as a 54th-minute substitute for Rasmus Schüller.[9]
Honours
Individual
- Veikkausliiga Breakthrough of the Year: 2015, 2017
Career statistics
- As of 26 October 2023[10]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | Other | 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 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Midtjylland | 2016–17 | Superliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Skive IK (loan) | 2017 | 1st Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Inter Turku (loan) | 2018 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| HJK (loan) | 2019 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | 6[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 35 | 3 | ||
| Lillestrøm (loan) | 2020 | 1. divisjon | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 4 | ||
| Lillestrøm | 2021 | Eliteserien | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 28 | 1 | |||
| Total | 70 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 77 | 6 | ||
| Sparta Prague | 2022–23 | Czech First League | 15 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 7[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 17 | 2 | |||
| Total | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 35 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 162 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 200 | 12 | ||
- Includes Finnish Cup, Norwegian Cup and Czech Cup
- Includes Finnish League Cup
- Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
- Includes four appearances in UEFA Conference League
Style of play
Left-footed and very confident on the ball, Kairinen reads the game well and has a great range of passing and shooting from distance. Local journalists consider him the best young talent in Finnish football and expect him to develop into a deep-lying midfielder in the Andrea Pirlo mould.[3]
— Michael Yokhin of The Guardian on Kairinen, October 2015
Kairinen's ability to control midfield is remarkable. His understanding and vision are already impressive, and he seldom seems to be in a hurry, picking his passes with elegance and precision. Deployed largely in an attacking role, he has shown an aptitude for defensive work too.[11]
— Mikael Erävuori of UEFA.com, October 2015
References
- Interin Kairiselta odotetaan ihmeitä (in Finnish) Turun Sanomat
- "Inter Turku vs. Jaro - 25 October 2014 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- "Next Generation 2015: 50 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2023-06-14.
- FCM sikrer sig finsk midtbanetalent, fcm.dk, 1 February 2016
- Kaan Kairinen udlejes til den finske mesterklub, fcm.dk, 14 November 2018
- "Na Spartu přichází Kaan Kairinen". Sparta Prague (in Czech). 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- "Miljoonasiirto talvella ja nyt Tšekin mestariksi: Kaan Kairisella huippukevät". Yle (in Finnish). 24 May 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- "Sparta v euforii! Remíza na Slovácku odstartovala mistrovské oslavy". Sport.cz (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- "Sweden v Finland game report". Eurosport. 8 January 2019.
- "Kaan Kairinen". soccerway.
- UEFA