Finland is the lilliput of the Nordic countries, when often only young footballers are interested – Luka Hyryläinen, 18, part of the million transfer to HJK

The main football leagues of Finland and Iceland fall badly behind the other Nordic countries in terms of revenue from player transfers.

One of the reasons for this is that million-dollar transfers of Finns to the world are rare, because those who leave Finland are often academy players.

For example, in 2020, Finnish teams received higher compensation for players who did not have Veikkausliiga games than for Finnish players in the representative team.

Last season, Sweden’s premier league teams made 12.1 million euros in revenue from player transfers, while in Finland they reached 900,000 euros. Norway and Denmark collected even more income than Sweden.

The background of the 2017–18 Veikkausliiga season’s revenue of more than two million euros is a Colombian Alfredo Morelos move. He left the Helsinki Football Club for the Scottish Glasgow Rangers with a compensation of 1.2 million euros.

To put it bluntly, it can be stated that the monetary value of Finnish youngsters is five figures (e.g. 40,000 euros) if the transfer takes place before matches in the domestic league. When there are main series matches below, the value roughly increases tenfold (e.g. 400,000 euros).

A few major league games can increase the price tag significantly, although the best academy players may be paid a lot.

For example Niklas Pyyhtia, 18, played 33 main league matches in two seasons in Turku Palloseura and Espoo Honga before his transfer to Bologna last year. According to Transfermarkt, the Italian club paid a transfer fee of 500,000 euros for him, but the Espoo society told (you will switch to another service) of an amount of “up to seven figures”.

If Pyyhti had been transferred after the end of his contract, training compensation would have been paid for him. At that time, the player is basically not sold, but the club gets FIFA, the International Football Association defined compensation (you switch to another service)which is six digits at best.

All clubs where a footballer has played between the ages of 12 and 23 receive their share of the training allowance.

National matches are really essential in terms of player sales, because young Finns are noticed in them. After that, the player observers will monitor the matches on the Finnish pitches before a possible transfer.

For example, the age group born in 2004 suffered from a lack of international matches at the start of the corona pandemic. There are fewer players from that age group abroad than from the previous or following year group.

The top football manager of the Swedish Football Association Juho Rantala says that between 2016 and 2020, the average age of players who went abroad from Finland with transfer fees of more than 300,000 euros is 18 years. In the same period, the average age of all transfers is 22.4 years, and the average age of transfers over 100,000 euros is 19.9 years, says Rantala.

– From the point of view of the players scouts of foreign clubs, the Veikkausliiga is an interesting series if the young players get a lot of playing time. Otherwise, it’s not that much, Rantala states.

Midfielder Luka Hyryläinen18, transferred at the beginning of August (you will switch to another service) From the German Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt to TSG Hoffenheim, who also plays in the main league. According to media reports, a transfer fee of one million euros was paid for the Finn.

Breeders’ association HJK will also receive a share of the transfer. The club management states that “HJK cannot comment on the financial side, because the clubs have stipulated in the contract that these matters are to be kept confidential on both sides”.

If the Media information is correct, Hyryläinen belongs to an exceptional group. Finns under the age of 20 have been paid transfer compensation of at least one million euros only three times before.

The biggest transfer amount for the Nordics under 20 years old is 35 million euros, with Sweden Dejan Kulusevski was bought to Italy’s Juventus. The second most expensive is Norwegian Erling Haaland, for which Germany’s Dortmund paid 20 million euros. Third place with 15 million euros in transfer compensation is shared by Sweden Alexander Isak and Denmark Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg.

Compared to the other Nordic countries, Finland and Iceland are also low in the million transfers of young players.

One of the reasons for Hyryläinen’s change of club was the situation in Frankfurt’s reserve team. It established again (you move to another service) this year and the team plays in the German vitos division this season. Hoffenheim’s corresponding team, on the other hand, has played in the fourth division of the country for 12 years already.

– How I perform myself will determine whether I will be able to train and possibly play with the major league team, Hyryläinen says.

He has been living in Hoffenheim’s home village of Sinsheim for about two months. He says that he got a good first impression of the club and describes the people as nice.

A tibia stress fracture diagnosed at the beginning of April has kept Hyryläinen on the sidelines for the time being.

– I think it will still take some time before I can get back on the playing fields.

After rehabilitation, Hyryläinen goes to get a feel for the game with Hoffenheim’s second team, and to break into the playing lineup.

Hyryläinen is also familiar with Finland’s youth national teams and has most recently played in the under-19 boys’ team.

The 197-centimeter defensive midfielder has been compared to the former national team captain To Tim Sparv. At the age of 16, Sparv moved to the academy of the English club Southampton. He played a long career abroad and represented, among others, Dutch Groningen and Danish Midtjylland.

The second coach of the under-19 boys’ national team Teemu Eskola describes Hyryläinen as being really ambitious. Eskola has coached Hyryläinen in the national team for over a year.

– I don’t consider the goal (better than Sparvia) to be impossible, even though there is a long road ahead, says Eskola.

Eskola lavishly praises Hyryläinen’s skills: secure on the ball, a resource in special situations, makes breakthrough passes, shoots goals – “a very versatile and modern player”.

– Maybe the legs need a little extra sharpness, which will surely come all the time. I could see that he is quickly ready to play adult football. Luka is that mature in his understanding of the game.

Hyryläinen describes himself quite similarly. He says that he enjoys being at the bottom of the midfield, building the game in the weaving position and taking care of his own role.

According to Eskola, Hyryläinen’s recent transfer was a logical solution due to the situation in Frankfurt’s reserve team. At this point in his career, a young player needs playing time and sufficiently hard matches, Eskola estimates.

Hyryläinen, who started football in Laajasalo Palloseura, joined HJK at the age of 8, from which he left for Frankfurt at the age of 16. At that time, a breeding fee of just under 100,000 euros was paid for Hyryläinen.

– I made the right decision when I left for Frankfurt. The right route for me, but now it came to an end.

According to media reports, English club Chelsea, Italian Napoli and other German clubs were also interested in Hyrylai.

Hyryläinen says that the transfer was discussed with the agent and the family for several months until they decided on Hoffenheim.

– So many good players have come out of the pipeline here, and the team also offers a good chance to play in the Bundesliga.

Among those who left Hoffenheim for the world are Dortmund Niklas Süleof Leverkusen Nadiem Amiri and Brighton Pascal Gross. Playing in Espoo Honga this season Saku Heiskanen was two years in Hoffenheim (you switch to another service).