Topi Keskinen

Last updated
Topi Keskinen
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-03-07) 7 March 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Espoo, Finland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 HJK
Number 18
Youth career
0000–2020 MP [1]
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2019–2022 MP 68 (13)
2020 → SavU (loan) 3 (0)
2023– HJK 30 (6)
International career‡
2022 Finland U19 2 (1)
2022– Finland U21 8 (2)
Medal record
HJK
Gold medal icon.svg Veikkausliiga 2023
Gold medal icon.svg Finnish League Cup 2023
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 April 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 November 2023

Topi Keskinen (born 7 March 2003) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Veikkausliiga club HJK, and the Finland under-21 national team. Keskinen is known for his pace and dribbling. [2]

Contents

Early years

Keskinen was born in Espoo, but soon after his family moved to Mikkeli in Eastern Finland. He started to play football in the youth sector of the local club Mikkelin Palloilijat (MP).

Club career

Mikkelin Palloilijat

He made his senior debut with MP first team in 2019, when the club played in third-tier level Kakkonen. The club won a promotion, and Keskinen signed a three-year deal with MP. [3] He was named in the first team squad for the 2020 Ykkönen season, in Finland's second tier. In 2020, he also played briefly for the associate farm club Savilahden Urheilijat in the fourth tier Kolmonen. [4] [5] [6]

He finished the 2022 Ykkönen season scoring 10 goals and providing six assists for his team in the division. [7]

HJK Helsinki

Keskinen signed a three-year deal with Finnish champions HJK on 23 November 2022, ahead of the 2023 Veikkausliiga season. [8] [9] On 8 February 2023, Keskinen scored four goals in his second competitive game for the club, in a 5–2 Finnish League Cup win over FC Lahti. [10] [11] [12]

He scored his first Veikkausliiga goal on 5 May 2023, in 2–1 away loss to KuPS. [13] Keskinen also scored the winning goal, as HJK defeated Molde FK 1–0 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League 2nd qualifying round, on 25 July 2023. [14] He played in all 14 matches in the HJK's 2023–24 European campaign, in which HJK qualified to the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage. [15] [16]

In the end of the 2023 season, Keskinen won his first Finnish championship title with HJK, which was the fourth championship of HJK in a row. He was named The Player of the Year by the supporters of the club, and the Rookie of the Year in Veikkausliiga. [17] Keskinen finished his first season in the league scoring twice and providing eight assists in 25 matches. [18]

International career

Keskinen has represented Finland at under-19 and under-21 youth national team levels.

In March 2022, Keskinen was callep up to Finland youth national team for the first time, when he was named in the Finland U19 squad for the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification Elite round games against Belgium, Italy and Germany. He made his youth national team debut on 23 March 2022 against Belgium, scoring a goal in the game. [19]

He made his first appearance for the Finland under-21 national team on 7 June 2022, in a 3–0 home win against Azerbaijan. [20] On 21 November 2023, Keskinen scored a brace for Finland U21 team, in a 6–0 home win against Armenia. [21] [22]

Personal life

Keskinen is a devoted Manchester United supporter, and has named Wayne Rooney his idol in football. He has a tattoo of fishing Wayne Rooney in his forearm. [23]

Career statistics

As of 27 April 2024 [24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [lower-alpha 1] OtherEuropeTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
MP 2019 Kakkonen 1000——10
2020 Ykkönen 19020——210
2021Ykkönen24330——273
2022Ykkönen2410323 [lower-alpha 2] 0—3012
Total68138230007915
SavU (loan)2020 Kolmonen 30———30
HJK 2023 Veikkausliiga 252104 [lower-alpha 3] 414 [lower-alpha 4] 1447
2024 Veikkausliiga54003 [lower-alpha 3] 10085
Total30610751415212
Career total101199210514113427
  1. ↑ Includes Suomen Cup
  2. ↑ Appearances in Ykkönen Cup
  3. 1 2 Appearances in Finnish League Cup
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

HJK

Individual

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References

  1. ↑ Tulospalvelu Palloliitto, T.Keskinen, Finnish FA/ Palloliitto
  2. ↑ Suomen nopein futaaja, Ilta-Sanomat, Ari Virtanen, 30 November 2023
  3. ↑ EDUSTUS: MP kiinnitti nuorta voimaa – Keskinen ja Ylönen kolmen vuoden sopimuksiin, mikkelinpalloilijat.fi, 10 December 2019
  4. ↑ EDUSTUS: Topi Keskinen itäisen alueen vuoden poikapelaaja 2020, mikkelinpalloilijat.fi
  5. ↑ EDUSTUS: Läpimurto, mikkelinpalloilijat.fi
  6. ↑ EDUSTUS: Topi Keskinen – MP:n luottopelaaja, mikkelinpalloilijat.fi
  7. ↑ EDUSTUS: Topi Keskinen MP:n kauden paras, mikkelinpalloilijat.fi
  8. ↑ "Topi Keskinen HJK:hon kolmen vuoden sopimuksella". HJK (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  9. ↑ EDUSTUS: Kiitos #18 Topi!!, mikkelinpalloilijat.fi
  10. ↑ HJK - FC Lahti
  11. ↑ "Topi Keskinen: Tiesin kyllä, että tulen pärjäämään liigassa". Finnish FA (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  12. ↑ Palomäki, Janne (5 April 2023). "20-vuotias Topi Keskinen sai todellisen unelmadebyytin HJK-paidassa: "Se oli ihan jees"" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  13. ↑ KuPS 2 – 1 HJK, Veikkausliiga
  14. ↑ Miettinen, Heikki (25 July 2023). "HJK:lle tärkeä voitto Moldesta" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  15. ↑ HJK-sensaatio Topi Keskinen olisi jo voinut siirtyä ulkomaille, mutta jäi Suomeen – puhuu nyt suoraan tulevaisuudestaan, mtvuutiset.fi/MTV Oy, 1 August 2023
  16. ↑ Topi Keskinen hankki aarteen europelistä: ”Se oli minun Fifa-veskani”, Iltalehti, 9 November 2023
  17. ↑ Topi Keskiselle vuoden pelaajan palkinto, forzahjk.fi, 25 October 2023
  18. ↑ Topi Keskiseltä kauden upein maali, Joona Toiviolle uran ensimmäinen Veikkausliigassa – HJK vahvasti kiinni mestaruudessa, Yle, 27 September 2023
  19. ↑ FINLAND U19 VS. BELGIUM U19 1 - 3, int.soccerway.com
  20. ↑ FINLAND U21 VS. AZERBAIJAN U21 3 - 0, soccerway.com
  21. ↑ Huuhkajista rannalle jätetyt nuoret näyttivät taitojaan murskavoitossa – Topi Keskiseltä unelmamaali: ”Herranpieksut!”, Yle, Samu Saatsi, Juuso Koskinen, 21 November 2023
  22. ↑ Pikkuhuuhkajille huima murskavoitto – Topi Keskinen täräytti häikäisevän osuman, MTV Oy/mtvuutiset.fi, Ilari Savonen, 21 November 2023
  23. ↑ Suomen nuoren lupauksen tatuointi hämmentää – Sai faneilta härskin lempinimen hurjan maalijuhlan myötä, Iltalehti, Sami Ikonen, 4 April 2023
  24. ↑ "Topi Keskinen". flashscore.
  25. ↑ Toimittajat äänestivät: Tässä on Veikkausliigan tähdistöjoukkue, Iltalehti, 21 October 2023
  26. ↑ Captain's Ball 2023 Kaj Natrille – Katso kaikki palkitut, Veikkausliiga, 1 December 2023
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