“I’m fine with this, I wanted this”

The Veikkausliiga got another star category returnee when HJK introduced Perparim Hetemaj’n officially as a club player on Thursday morning. Hetemaj, 35, moved from Reggina in Italy to HJK on a 2 + 1 year contract.

Hetemaj left his breeding club HJK for the world at the age of 19 in the summer of 2006. From there, even a uniquely hard international career began in Finnish.

Already in the fall of 2006, AEK in Athens Hetemaj made his debut in the Champions League. 2009–10 Hetemaj played a short stint in Twente, the Netherlands, from where the journey continued to Brescia, Italy.

In Serie A, Hetemaj started in the fall of 2010. After that, there were as many as 300 matches in the Italian main series. Hetemaj is best remembered in Verona when he starred at Chievo Verona in 2011-2019.

Hetemaj describes his latest season in Reggina in Serie B as two-part: after a good start came a weak period of ten games. Reggina is ranked 12th in 20 teams in Serie B.

Hetemaj last played the full 90-minute on April 10th. So HJK gets a midfielder with a good playing experience.

– It’s nice to come back when you don’t have to do anything extra to get fit, Hetemaj tells Sport.

Hetemaj could have continued his career in Italian fields if he wished. However, he saw that now was the right time to return to Finland. He says things materialized a week ago.

A 20-year-old midfielder Santeri Väänänen was injured in the second match of HJK’s season as a guest of SJK. The midfield was perhaps the narrowest part of HJK’s high-quality and wide player material anyway.

– A week ago we talked about whether now would be the right time to come. It took a bit of work to get out of there (in the middle of the Serie B season), but now the return feels right and good, says Hetemaj, who once played 33 matches in the Veikkausliiga HJK before going abroad.

HJK says in your newsletter (you switch to another service)that “Reggina, anchored in the middle caste of Serie B, agreed to terminate the Finnish contract on the initiative of Hetemaj three rounds before the end of the Italian series.”

Hetemaj laughs when asked what he’s missing from Italy.

– Well, of course food. After all, it’s a different world and a different way of life. In Reggio, I had an apartment right by the sea. But I’m fine with this, I wanted this and this is fine. Everything has a beginning and an end. I got to live there for a long time.

On Italian pitches, Hetemaj was a respected midfielder and a multi-purpose player who even carried a captain’s band in Chievo. A similar role is certainly available at HJK.

Director of Sports and Development at HJK Miika Takkula stated in the press release that the transfer of Hetemaj was significant in many ways.

– Athletically, “Perpa” of course strengthens the team and helps us on the way to our goals. In addition to playful quality, he sets an important example for our young players in their daily work in the daily life of the team. Perpa if anyone knows what it takes to create a long professional career abroad, Takkula said.

Hetemaj does not want to elevate any single moments of his Italian career above others.

– The fact that I’ve been playing for so long and a lot. I have played almost all the games from opening to completion. I am lucky to have done exactly what I have wanted since I was a child. The fact that through all the difficulties I have met the goals I have set for myself.

– Of course I would have expected and wanted more from my career. I’m just happy with what I’ve done, but of course everyone dreams even more, Hetemaj adds.

There have been difficulties in the career due to injuries, among other things. In early 2018, at the age of 31, Hetemaj ended his national team career. He noted that the body no longer had time to recover properly.

HJK has started the Veikkausliiga season with three 1–0 wins. Last season, HJK and KuPS had a fierce championship – now they are the only teams in the league table with a clean record.

Naturally, HJK also has big goals in the summer euro qualifiers. Last season, HJK advanced to the Conference League for the first time.

– The season is just beginning. I haven’t met players or talked about goals yet. Of course, playing at HJK is about championship and fighting for European seats. The first focus is that I get to train and quickly join the new team, Hetemaj in.

However, the Veikkausliiga is a familiar series for Hetemaj, whose brother is a year younger Mehmet Hetemaj has been playing at SJK in Seinäjoki since 2015. The meeting of the brothers can be seen in August, when HJK hosts SJK.

– I have always followed the Veikkausliiga. “Juice” plays in Seinäjoki, so I’ve usually watched their games and at the same time seen other people’s games. HJK is one of the clubs I have watched games on. Even now, I’ve seen everything except the first half of the VPS game, says Hetemaj.

There are also players from HJK who are familiar to Hetemaj throughout his career. For this season, HJK recruited from the national team as well Joona Toivion and Jukka Raitalan.

For example, in 2009 Hetemaj and Raitala played full minutes, and Toivio was also on the team when the Finnish U21 national team performed for the first time in the European Championships.

Hetemaj will be represented on Saturday when HJK will face FC Inter at his next match at Veikkausliiga.