 Kairinen with Inter Turku in 2015 | |||
| 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) | Central midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sparta Prague | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| TuNL | |||
| –2015 | Inter Turku[1] | ||
| 2016–2018 | Midtjylland | ||
| 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 | 33 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014–2015 | Finland U17 | 10 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Finland U19 | 7 | (0) |
| 2017–2020 | Finland U21 | 19 | (4) |
| 2019– | Finland | 15 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 February 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 November 2023 | |||
Kasper Kaan Kairinen (born 22 December 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer, who plays as a central midfielder for Czech First League club Sparta Prague and the Finland national team.
Kairinen was born to a Turkish father and a Finnish mother in Turku, and was raised in Runosmäki.[2]
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 1–0 home defeat.[3] 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.[4]
On 1 February 2016, it was confirmed by FC Midtjylland, that they had signed with Kairinen for an undisclosed fee.[5]
On 14 November 2018, Midtjylland announced that Kairinen would spend 2019 at HJK Helsinki on a loan deal.[6]
Kairinen had a successful loan spell with Lillestrøm SK in Norway in the 2020 season, after which the club gained a promotion to Eliteserien. After the season, Kairinen transferred to Lillestrøm on a permanent contract, signing a four-year deal, for a transfer fee of €300,000.[7][8] In late 2021, he suffered from a long-lasted foot injury, which was eventually operated in January 2022 by surgeon Lasse Lempainen in Turku, Finland.[9]
On 20 December 2022, it was confirmed by Sparta Prague, that they had signed with Kairinen on a deal until 30 June 2026, [10] for a reported fee of €1.5 million.[11] Kairinen scored a goal and provided an assist in his debut in Czech First League on 5 February 2023, in a 4–1 home win against Mladá Boleslav.[12] During his first season in Prague, he helped the club to win their first Czech championship title since 2014.[13]
Kairinen made his debut for the Finland national team on 8 January 2019 in a friendly against Sweden, as a 54th-minute substitute for Rasmus Schüller.[14]
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.[4]
— 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.[15]
— Mikael Erävuori of UEFA.com, October 2015
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | 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 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Midtjylland | 2016–17 | Danish Superliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | Danish Superliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Skive IK (loan) | 2017 | Danish 1st Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Inter Turku (loan) | 2018 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| HJK (loan) | 2019 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | 6[c] | 0 | 35 | 3 | |
| Lillestrøm (loan) | 2020 | Norwegian First Division | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 4 | ||
| Lillestrøm | 2021 | Eliteserien | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | Eliteserien | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[d] | 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 | Czech First League | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 12[c] | 0 | 30 | 2 | ||
| Total | 33 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 48 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 170 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 213 | 12 | ||
| National team | Year | Competitive | Friendly | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Finland | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 2[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 2[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 8[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
Midtjylland
Sparta Prague
Individual