Santeri Leevi Oliver Väänänen (born 1 January 2002) is a Finnish professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Eliteserien club Rosenborg, and the Finland national team.[3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Santeri Leevi Oliver Väänänen[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 January 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rosenborg | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| PPV[2] | |||
| HJK | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2021 | Klubi 04 | 22 | (1) |
| 2018–2022 | HJK | 41 | (1) |
| 2023– | Rosenborg | 69 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | Finland U17 | 6 | (0) |
| 2019 | Finland U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 2021–2025 | Finland U21 | 24 | (1) |
| 2023– | Finland | 6 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 30 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 5 June 2026 | |||
Club career
editHJK Helsinki
editVäänänen started to play football with Pajamäen Pallo-Veikot (PPV) in Pajamäki, Helsinki. Later he joined the youth sector of HJK at the age of 7, and played with the club's district youth team in Munkkiniemi along with Matti Peltola.
In 2018, Väänänen made his senior debut with the club's reserve team Klubi 04 in the second-tier league Ykkönen. Later in the same year he debuted with the first team in Veikkausliiga, aged 16.[4]
On 17 June 2019, Väänänen renewed his contract with HJK, on a deal until the end of 2021.[5][6] During the next seasons, he played occasionally in the starting line-up in the league, but his major breakthrough was delayed until the 2022 season due to injuries.
Väänänen also represented HJK in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League and in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League group stages.[7]
Rosenborg BK
editOn 7 December 2022, Norwegian Eliteserien side Rosenborg announced the signing of Väänänen on a four-year deal. The transfer was effective starting in January 2023.[8][9] He made his debut with Rosenborg on 12 March 2023, as a substitute in a 2–0 Norwegian Cup defeat against Viking.[10] He scored his first goal in Eliteserien on 2 June 2024, in a 1–1 draw against Fredrikstad. In late September 2024, Väänänen suffered a knee injury and was estimated to miss 2–3 months.[11]
International career
editVäänänen has represented Finland at various youth levels.[12] He captains the Finland under-21 national team in the 2025 UEFA Euro U21 Championship qualifiers.[13]
He made his international debut with the Finland senior national team in January 2023, in the friendly matches against Sweden and Estonia.
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of 29 May 2026[14]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Klubi 04 | 2018 | Ykkönen | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | Kakkonen | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||
| 2020 | Kakkonen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | Ykkönen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | ||
| HJK | 2018 | Veikkausliiga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | Veikkausliiga | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | Veikkausliiga | 10 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 7[d] | 0 | 21 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | Veikkausliiga | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13[e] | 0 | 28 | 1 | |
| Total | 41 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 73 | 2 | ||
| Rosenborg | 2023 | Eliteserien | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 3[f] | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2024 | Eliteserien | 18 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 20 | 2 | |||
| 2025 | Eliteserien | 22 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 6[f] | 0 | 32 | 1 | ||
| 2026 | Eliteserien | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| Total | 69 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 86 | 3 | ||
| Rosenborg 2 | 2023 | 3. divisjon | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 136 | 6 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 187 | 8 | ||
- ↑ Includes Finnish Cup, Norwegian Cup
- ↑ Includes Finnish League Cup
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
- 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
International
edit- As of match played on 5 June 2026.
| National team | Year | Competitive | Friendly | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Finland | 2023 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
Honours
editHJK
- Veikkausliiga: 2020, 2021, 2022
- Finnish Cup runner-up: 2021
References
edit- ↑ Santeri Väänänen at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
- ↑ Pikkuhuuhkajat nimetty marraskuun otteluihin, Finnish FA, 7 November 2023
- ↑ Santeri Väänänen at Soccerway
- ↑ S.Väänänen, hjk.fi
- ↑ Santeri Väänänen uusi sopimuksensa, hjk.fi, 17 June 2019
- ↑ 17-vuotias lahjakkuus säväytti Stadin derbyssä – ”Haluan koko ajan lisää ja lisää”, Iltalehti, 4 July 2019
- ↑ "HJK:n nuori keskikenttämies urakoi jälleen täydet minuutit: "Huomaa seuraavana päivänä, että on taas oltu Eurooppa-liigassa"" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ↑ "Väänänen klar for Rosenborg" [Väänänen to Rosenborg] (in Norwegian). RBK.no. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ↑ "Santeri Väänänen, 20, siirtyy Norjan suurseuraan – Suomen mestarin kassaan kilahtaa "kelpo korvaus"" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ↑ VIKING VS. ROSENBORG 2 - 0, int.soccerway.com
- ↑ Pikkuhuuhkajien Santeri Väänänen sai polvivamman, suomifutis.com, 25 September 2024
- ↑ "Santeri Väänänen: "Onhan se aina ollut unelma"" (in Finnish). Finnish FA. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ↑ Pikkuhuuhkajat kaatoi Albanian Turussa, 13 October 2023, Finnish FA
- ↑ "Santeri Väänänen". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.