In the past season, in the football Bundesliga, Leverkusen won the championship Lukas Hradecky is known around the world, but he is by no means the only Finnish football goalkeeper who is currently being talked about.
The respected sports media The Athletic recently published of the article About the Aston Villa contract player Viljami from Sinisalowho played last season on loan in the English First League in Exeter’s shirt at the third highest league level.
In The Athletic’s story, Exeter’s goalkeeping coach Kevin Miller praises Sinisalo’s performances and says that according to rumors, as many as 17 clubs would be interested in the 22-year-old Finnish promise. In the article, Miller praises Sinisalo’s attitude and hard training as well as mental preparation for the games.
– It was the best season of my career and the best time as a footballer and as a person. I will always remember the kind of support I got and the moments I got to experience, says Sinisalo in an interview with Urheilu.
From 50 matches, he accumulated a total of more than 4,000 game minutes and 14 clean sheets.
– I went to the First League as a boy, but 50 games later I left there as a man. As a more experienced and consistent goalkeeper who knows where he is good and where there is room for improvement.
Sinisalo also commented on the claim about the interest of 17 clubs.
– I can’t really say. I can say that this kind of situation has never happened in my career. The fingers of two hands are not enough for how many options there are.
– His aim is to be (Aston) Villa’s number one and he will do everything to achieve that, Exeter’s second-choice goalkeeper Shaun MacDonald tells The Athletic.
You have to continue to get playing time
Sports expert Antti Pohjan think that last season’s loan agreement with the Exeter team was profitable for Sinisalo, because he got a lot of playing time in the team and played a good season.
Sinisalo’s current contract with Aston Villa still has one year left. In Pohja’s opinion, it is an interesting question how the Premier League club sees the young Finn’s potential.
– He has been in the organization for a long time and he is certainly known there. Jumping directly to the number one goalkeeper is probably not relevant yet, but if there is one year left on the contract, they too have to start making decisions. It is, of course, a signal of whether the club trusts that he will one day be the number one goalkeeper, i.e. a responsible goalkeeper for them, Pohja analyzed.
Exeter would also have been interested in keeping Sinisalo in their ranks, but according to Miller, the club has understood that he will go on to pursue bigger things next.
Pohja also thinks that now would be a good time for Sinisalo to move to a higher league ladder than last season. The expert thinks that if so many clubs are interested in the Finnish player, there are also options higher than the First League.
He emphasizes that, like the responsibility he received at Exeter, playing time should continue to come.
– No matter how big the club is and how great the name is, playing time is still the most important thing.
“The island is full of interest”
Brought up by Palloseura in Hyvinkää, Sinisalo moved to Britain in pursuit of football at the age of 16, when he became an academy player for Aston Villa in 2018. Antti Pohja sees an academy place at a big British club and a sensible career plan as significant factors in Sinisalo’s current desirability.
– He has been able to create his own brand as a player and goalkeeper from a very early age. In that sense, he has been on a tray all along. After the catches have been good enough, of course the island is full of interest in such a young, good goalkeeper.
Already used to the national team culture
In addition to the fact that Sinisalo is expected to have a successful career in the club team, he may be a significant part of the Finnish national football team in the coming years.
Antti Pohja believes that the 34-year-old Huuhkajie’s first keeper Lukas Hradecky will play for some time, but gradually the younger players should also be able to challenge him – just as it has already happened in Leverkusen. Sinisalo is one of the most potential candidates to succeed Hradecky.
– He will certainly wait patiently for his turn, but he will certainly be very high in the pecking order at the point when the playing goalkeeper position opens up from Hradecky, Pohja guesses.
The former captain of Pikkuhuuhkaji was selected for the A national team for the first time in the fall of 2022. Sinisalo made his actual debut for Huuhkaji in January 2023, when he placed himself between the posts in the winter camp match between Finland and Estonia.
His name is the head coach of the national team Markku Kanervan also on the list for the A national matches to be played in June. Pohja hopes that Sinisalo will get playing time already in the next training matches, where Finland will face Portugal and Scotland.
– Sinisalo has already had time in a certain way to get used to the culture of the national team and what it means to be part of the Huuhkajie team. He has also been able to play and show that he certainly has the potential to inherit (Hradecky’s) mantle, says Pohja and believes that playing minutes and good performances in the club team will bring responsibility in the national team shirt as well.
According to Sinisalo, filling Hradecky’s position is a tough challenge.
– Those are big boots. Luke is one of Finland’s all-time footballers. If it’s me one day, you have to be ready for it.
Huhukjat will face Portugal in the national soccer match on Tuesday, June 4. ‘s live broadcast of the match starts at 21:34.