Eetu Vertainen

Eetu Vertainen

Vertainen with HJK in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth	(1999-05-11) 11 May 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth	Espoo, Finland [1]
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) [2]
Position	Striker
Team information
Current team	Triestina
Number	9
Youth career
	KyIF
	HJK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2020	Klubi 04	41	(13)
2017–2020	HJK	57	(8)
2021	Ilves	11	(4)
2021–2023	St Johnstone	7	(0)
2022	→ Linfield (loan)	10	(4)
2022–2023	→ Linfield (loan)	30	(17)
2023–	Triestina	54	(12)
2023	→ Athens Kallithea (loan)	3	(0)
International career
	Finland U19
	Finland U21	4 [3]	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 September 2025

Eetu Vertainen (born 11 May 1999) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie C Group A club Triestina.

Career

Vertainen began his youth career with KyIF, before joining the academy of HJK at the age of 11. ^{[4] [5]} He started his senior career with Klubi 04, before playing for HJK and Ilves in the Veikkausliiga. ^[6]

Vertainen signed a two-year contract with Scottish club St Johnstone on 1 September 2021. ^{[7] [8]}

He moved on loan to NIFL Premiership club Linfield on 7 February 2022. ^[9] On 19 March, he scored four goals in a 5–0 league win over Dungannon Swifts. ^{[10] [11]}

On 30 June, his loan deal with the Northern Irish team was extended. ^{[12] [13]} Following his performances, he was named the league's Player of the Month and won the Goal of the Month award for December 2022. ^[14] In January 2023, he scored hat-tricks in successive league matches. ^{[15] [16]} Later in the same season, he was the subject of speculation about a permanent transfer to Linfield, ^[17] as well as links to Welsh club The New Saints. ^[18]

On 1 September 2023, Vertainen joined Serie C club Triestina on a permanent deal. ^{[19] [20]} Since Triestina were unable to register him on time, ^[21] on 11 September he was loaned to Super League Greece 2 club Athens Kallithea until the end of the year, with an option to extend the deal for the rest of the 2023–24 season. ^{[21] [22]} In January 2024, Vertainen returned to Triestina, and made his Serie C debut on 7 January 2024, as a starter in a match against Trento. ^[23]

International career

Vertainen is a former Finnish youth international. ^[6]

Career statistics

As of 21 September 2025 ^[6]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [a]		Other		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Klubi 04	2016	Kakkonen	13	0	–		–		–		13	0
	2017	Kakkonen	21	11	3	1	–		–		24	12
	2018	Ykkönen	6	2	–		–		–		6	2
	2020	Kakkonen	1	0	–		–		–		1	0
	Total		41	13	3	1	0	0	0	0	44	14
HJK	2017	Veikkausliiga	1	0	1	0	–		0	0	2	0
	2018	Veikkausliiga	19	4	5	3	–		3 [b]	0	27	7
	2019	Veikkausliiga	25	2	3	1	–		2 [c]	0	30	3
	2020	Veikkausliiga	12	2	5	1	–		–		17	3
	Total		57	8	14	5	0	0	5	0	76	13
Ilves	2021	Veikkausliiga	11	4	3	0	–		–		14	4
St Johnstone	2021–22	Scottish Premiership	7	0	0	0	1 [d]	0	–		8	0
Linfield (loan)	2021–22	NIFL Premiership	10	4	–		–		–		10	4
	2022–23	NIFL Premiership	30	17	1	0	7 [e]	2	5 [f]	0	43	19
	Total		40	21	1	0	7	2	5	0	53	23
Triestina	2023–24	Serie C	13	3	–		2 [g]	0	–		15	3
	2024–25	Serie C	36	6	0	0	1 [h]	0	–		37	6
	2025–26	Serie C	5	3	–		1 [h]	1	–		6	4
	Total		54	12	0	0	4	1	0	0	58	13
Athens Kallithea (loan)	2023–24	Super League Greece 2	3	0	0	0	–		–		3	0
Career total			213	58	21	6	12	3	10	0	256	67

1. Includes Suomen Cup, Scottish Cup, Irish Cup and Greek Cup
2. Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
3. Includes UEFA Champions League
4. Includes Scottish League Cup
5. Includes five appearances and two goals in Irish League Cup, one appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup and one appearance in NIFL Charity Shield
6. Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
7. Includes Serie C Promotion Play-offs
8. Includes Coppa Italia Serie C

References

1. "Eetu Vertainen". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
2. "Profile" (in Finnish). Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
3. "Tulospalvelu". tulospalvelu.palloliitto.fi.
4. "KRISTALLINKIRKAS TAVOITE" (in Finnish). Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi. 24 April 2018. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
5. "Eetu Vertaiselle jatkosopimus". Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (in Finnish). 10 November 2020.
6. Eetu Vertainen at Soccerway . Retrieved 1 August 2021.
7. "Eetu Vertainen Signs 2 Year Deal". St Johnstone Football Club . 1 September 2021.
8. Gallagher, Matthew (1 September 2021). "Finnish striker Eetu Vertainen has "loads of potential", says Callum Davidson". Daily Record .
9. "St Johnstone loan Eetu Vertainen to Linfield". FourFourTwo. 7 February 2022.
10. "Four-goal Vertainen can still improve – Healy". BBC Sport . 19 March 2022.
11. "Irish League Round-Up: Eetu Vertainen to the four as Linfield stay top with Cliftonville keeping in touch after win at Glenavon". Belfast Telegraph . 19 March 2022.
12. "Eetu Vertainen moves to Linfield on loan". St Johnstone Football Club. 30 June 2022.
13. Fullerton, Gareth (30 June 2022). "Linfield announce the return of striker Eetu Vertainen". BelfastLive .
14. "Eetu Vertainen: Player and goal of the month award for St Johnstone loan striker". Daily Record. 6 January 2023.
15. "Linfield captain Jamie Mulgrew hails hat-trick hero Eetu Vertainen as Blues boost title hopes in style with victory over Ballymena United". Belfast Telegraph . 21 January 2023.
16. "Linfield must improve record against title rivals, admits Ross Oliver after striker Eetu Vertainen's second consecutive hat-trick helps Blues rout Portadown". Belfast Telegraph . 28 January 2023.
17. "Finnish striker Eetu Vertainen ponders permanent Linfield switch". Belfast Telegraph . 7 February 2023.
18. Nicolson, Eric (2 February 2023). "Eetu Vertainen: Welsh champions TNS battling Linfield to sign St Johnstone striker in summer". The Courier .
19. "Eetu Vertainen firma con la Triestina". US Triestina Calcio. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
20. "MTV Urheilun tiedot: Suomalaistykki teki sopimuksen Italiaan". MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
21. Ikola, Ertu (11 September 2023). "Yllättävä käänne, Italiaan siirtynyt suomalaishyökkääjä joutui heti vaihtamaan maisemaa". MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). MTV Finland . Retrieved 11 September 2023.
22. "Eetu Vertainen joins Athens Kallithea FC". Athens Kallithea FC. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
23. "Trento vs. Triestina - 7 January 2024 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.