Kaan Kairinen
Kasper Kaan Kairinen (born 22 December 1998) is a Finnish footballer currently playing for Eliteserien club Lillestrøm SK. He was born to a Turkish father and a Finnish mother in Turku.[1]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 22 December 1998 | ||
Place of birth | Turku, Finland | ||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Lillestrøm | ||
Number | 6 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2014–2016 | Inter Turku | 27 | (0) |
2016–2020 | FC Midtjylland | 5 | (0) |
2017 | → Skive IK (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2018 | → Inter Turku (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2019 | → HJK Helsinki (loan) | 17 | (1) |
2020 | → Lillestrøm (loan) | 28 | (4) |
2021– | Lillestrøm | 0 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2014–2015 | Finland U17 | 3 | (0) |
2015–2016 | Finland U19 | 6 | (0) |
2017– | Finland U21 | 10 | (3) |
2019– | Finland | 1 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 December 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 January 2019 |
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
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]
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.[6]
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.[7]
— 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.
- The Guardian
- FCM sikrer sig finsk midtbanetalent, fcm.dk, 1 February 2016
- Kaan Kairinen udlejes til den finske mesterklub, fcm.dk, 14 November 2018
- "Sweden v Finland game report". Eurosport. 8 January 2019.
- UEFA
External links
- Kaan Kairinen at Soccerway
- Kaan Kairinen at National-Football-Teams.com