Teemu Pukki

Teemu Eino Antero Pukki (born 29 March 1990) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United and the Finland national team.

Pukki began his career with KTP and made his debut on senior level on 23 June 2005 at the age of 15 in a fifth round match of the Finnish Cup.

He then moved to Sevilla in 2008, where he played only one La Liga game for the first team before returning to Finland with HJK.

In HJK he won the Veikkausliiga championship and the Finnish Cup.

He then played in the top divisions of Germany for Schalke 04, Scotland for Celtic and Denmark for Brøndby.

He was called up for the Sevilla first team for the away match against Real Madrid on 7 December 2008, but was an unused substitute.

Pukki made his international debut for Finland in 2009 and has earned over 110 caps, scoring 39 goals.

He is the all-time leading male Finnish goalscorer.

He received his La Liga debut at home against Racing on 25 January 2009.

He found himself unused in Sevilla playing mostly for the reserve side Sevilla Atlético and he decided to return to Finland.

On 28 August 2010, Pukki signed a three-and-half-year contract with the Finnish Veikkausliiga club HJK.

Pukki made his debut 30 August a match against IFK Mariehamn.

He managed to score his first goal for HJK in the next match against FF Jaro which was his first goal in a league match for nearly two years.

During season 2010 he managed to play in seven games and score two goals for HJK in the 2010 season.

At the end of the season HJK and Pukki won the Finnish Veikkausliiga and silver in the Finnish Cup.

During season 2011 he scored 11 goals and notched eight assists in 18 league matches out of which he was in the starting line up in 13.

He was chosen to 2011 Veikkausliiga All Stars -team.

Pukki was also a key figure in HJK's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifications.

He scored two goals against Bangor City and HJK's both goals in a 2–0 home win against FC Schalke 04.

Pukki also scored HJK's only goal in the 6–1 away defeat against Schalke.

On 31 August 2011, Pukki joined Schalke on a three-year contract, for a fee of around €1.5 million.

On 31 August 2013, Pukki signed a four-year deal with Celtic from FC Schalke 04 for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £3 million.

He scored on his debut in a 3–1 win against Hearts on 14 September 2013 and again on his home debut against St Johnstone on 21 September.

On 26 January 2014 he scored against Hibernian.

Overall though, Pukki's first season at Celtic was considered something of a disappointment as he struggled with form and failed to fill the void left by Gary Hooper who had left at the start of the season.

Pukki himself later acknowledged the lack of impact he had made, admitting he initially felt playing in Scotland would be "easier" than in Germany.

He found the speed and physical nature of the game in Scotland difficult to adjust to, and stated "Scottish football is not easy. It’s not a bad league at all".

On 8 July 2014, Pukki scored his first Celtic hat trick in a pre-season friendly against LASK Linz in a 5–2 victory for Celtic.

Pukki scored twice in Celtic's victory against KR Reykjavik at Murrayfield Stadium in Celtic's UEFA Champions League qualifying match, the match ended 4–0 with Celtic winning 5–0 on aggregate.

However, he struggled to make any impact in the next qualifying round matches against Legia Warsaw and was substituted at half-time in the league defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 6 August 2014.

In 2018 he signed for Norwich City on a free transfer and was named The Player of the Season in the 2018–19 EFL Championship.

He made his debut on 18 September, when he came in as a substitute for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar on 66th minute in a 0–2 defeat against Bayern Munich.

On 6 November, he scored two goals for Schalke as he debuted in the starting 11 against Hannover 96.

By doing so, he became the third Finn to score a brace in the German Bundesliga, after Ari Hjelm and Pasi Rautiainen.

Pukki scored ten goals in ten matches in Finland's UEFA Euro 2020 qualification campaign, helping the side reach their first ever major international tournament.

Pukki began his football career in childhood in HOPS (Hovinsaaren Palloseura) while living in Hovinsaari, Kotka.

As a youth he joined his official hometown club, KTP, playing for their under-19 side.

He made his debut for the first team at 16 years old and his performances saw him called up to play for Finland's youth international sides.

In two seasons of first-team football, Pukki made 29 appearances in the Finnish Premier League (Veikkausliiga) and scored three goals.

Pukki moved to Sevilla from KTP for a transfer fee of 180.000€.