Paulus Verneri Arajuuri (born 15 June 1988) is a Finnish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

. He began his senior club career playing for

FC Espoo FC Espoo is a Finnish football club based in the city of Espoo, Finland. Founded in 1989, the first team plays in the Finnish Second Division (Kakkonen), the third tier of the Finnish football pyramid. The first team of FC Espoo plays its ho ...

, before making his

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

debut with Honka at age 18 in 2006. Arajuuri made his international debut for Finland in January 2010 at the age of 21.

Club career

Early career

Arajuuri made his debut on senior level in the ranks of

during the 2005 season of the third-tier

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen ( Finnish for 'Number Tw ...

. He gained eight caps and scored one goal. During the 2006 season, he made his debut in the

with

FC Honka FC Honka is a Finnish football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club currently play in the Finnish premier division (''Veikkausliiga''), having been promoted for the f ...

against rivals

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

. In that season, he was also sent on loan back to FC Espoo for 8 matches. For the season 2007 he joined HJK Helsinki. He did not make any appearances in the first team, but spent the whole season playing for the reserve team

Klubi 04 Klubi 04 is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. It is the reserve team of Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi for whom a number of the players are also registered. History Klubi 04 was founded in 2004 when HJK bought FC Jokerit. Initially Klubi ...

in the second-tier

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' ( Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also p ...

IFK Mariehamn

Originally from

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Arajuuri moved to

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

and their premier side,

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wikl� ...

, in 2008. During his first season with Mariehamn, he participated in all but two games, making it a total of 24 appearances. During the summer of 2009, Arajuuri was frequently linked with a move to Sweden, especially to

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is nam ...

. Arajuuri's player agent, Jonas Wirmola, admitted to one of the major newspapers of

that Djurgården and several other clubs had shown interest in the young Finnish defender.

Kalmar FF

Eventually, Arajuuri signed a four-year deal on a Bosman-transfer with the Swedish champions of 2008,

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1910, the clu ...

on 24 September 2009. He netted his first league goals for Kalmar FF at home against

GAIS , neighboring_municipalities= Altstätten (SG), Appenzell (AI), Bühler (AR), Eichberg (SG), Rüte (AI), Schlatt-Haslen (AI), Trogen (AR) , twintowns= } Gais () is a village and a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden ...

on 23 June 2011. He scored twice to help the Småland club earn a 2–1 win. Arajuuri played a total of ten matches during the

2011 Allsvenskan The 2011 Allsvenskan, part of the 2011 Swedish football season, was the 87th season of Allsvenskan since its establishment in 1924. The preliminary 2011 fixtures were released on 15 December 2010. The season began on 2 April 2011 and ended on 23 ...

, nine of them in the starting line-up, as he scored two goals. Kalmar finished eighth in

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football le ...

, as they advanced to the final of the

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams co ...

which was lost to

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...

. However, through their cup final participation, Kalmar qualified for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

qualifiers. Arajuuri experienced a real breakthrough in Kalmar during the 2012 season, when he established himself in the starting line-up. Arajuuri played a total of 21 matches, all in the starting line-up. Arajuuri also appeared in all six qualifiers for Kalmar in the Europa League. Kalmar advanced to the third qualifying round, but the team was knocked out by Swiss club

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

. Kalmar finished tenth in Allsvenskan. Arajuuri continued as a starter during the 2013 season and he was also appointed captain of the Kalmar team. Arajuuri played 12 games, but his strong start was interrupted by a hip injury that kept him sidelined until the end of the season. Kalmar had a successful season in Allsvenskan, which ended in fourth place.

Lech Poznań

In accordance with an agreement reached in August 2013, Arajuuri joined Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

club

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. T ...

in January 2014 on a three-year contract. Arajuuri made his debut for Lech Poznań on 5 April 2014 in the home match against

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home ...

. He made five appearances at the second half of the 2013–14 season, four of them in the starting line-up. Lech finished second in the Ekstraklasa behind

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

who took the championship. Lech made it to the qualifiers for the next season's

. Arajuuri steadily made his way to become a permanent player in the starting line-up of Lech Poznań during the rest of 2014. He scored his first goal in the Ekstraklasa on 14 February 2015 in the 1–1 away draw against

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league ...

. During the 2014–15 season, Arajuuri made a total of 25 appearances, of which 24 were in the starting line-up. He scored three goals. Lech won the Ekstraklasa and the

Polish SuperCup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

, and the team made it to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

qualifiers the following season. Arajuuri also appeared in the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa titl ...

final, which Lech however lost to Legia Warsaw. Lech and Arajuuri's 2015–16 season began with European qualification. After being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, the team qualified for the Europa League group stage. Arajuuri made his debut in the Europa League on 17 September 2015 in the home match against

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

. However, the team finished third in the group behind

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, a ...

and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

. Arajuuri continued to appear as a key player of the team and played a total of 28 league matches, of which 27 were in the starting line-up. In addition, Arajuuri made three Europa League appearances. That season, Lech finished seventh in the Ekstraklasa. During the autumn season 2016–17, Arajuuri made 12 appearances for the Lech Poznań first team, in which he scored two goals. Lech were in fifth place of the Ekstraklasa at the end of the autumn season.

Brøndby

In accordance with a pre-agreement made in July 2016, Arajuuri joined fellow Finn

Teemu Pukki Teemu Eino Antero Pukki (born 29 March 1990) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Norwich City and the Finland national team. Pukki began his career with KTP and made his debut on senior level ...

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each y ...

club

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was pr ...

in January 2017. Arajuuri made his debut in the Superliga on 12 March 2017 in an away match against AC Horsens. He made eight matches during the spring season 2016–17, six of them in the starting line-up. Brøndby finished second in the Danish league after

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

, who took the championship. Brøndby qualified for next season's

qualifiers, and the team also made it to the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official " knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will qu ...

final, which was lost to Copenhagen. Arajuuri and Brøndby's 2017–18 season began with the qualifying matches of the Europa League, where they, among others, faced Finnish

side

Vaasan Palloseura Vaasan Palloseura (or VPS) is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (''Veikkausliiga''). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matches at Hietalahti. V ...

. However, Brøndby were knocked out before reaching the group stage. Arajuuri consolidated his place in Brøndby's starting line-up and made a total of 28 Superliga matches as well as two Europa League qualifying matches. He scored his first goal in the Superliga on 3 December 2017 in a 1–3 away win over

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Danish sport corporation. They have a football team ( SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two handball teams ( SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female based in Aabenraa) and an ice hockey t ...

. The team led the Superliga during large parts of the season, but finished second, as in the previous season, when

FC Midtjylland FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Su ...

won the championship. Brøndby again made it to the Europa League qualifiers, and the team went on to win the Danish Cup by beating

Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

in the final. Arajuuri continued in Brøndby's starting line-up as a player in the 2018–19 season. Brøndby once again played in the Europa League qualifiers, where they were eventually knocked out by

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

before reaching the group stage. Arajuuri played a total of 26 league matches during the season, as well as three Europa League qualifiers. Brøndby finished fourth in the Superliga and reached the European League qualifiers after play-offs. Again, Brøndby reached the Danish Cup final at the end of the season, but this time lost to Midtjylland. Arajuuri was part of the early part of Brøndby's 2019–20 season, making four appearances in the Danish Superliga and six appearances in the Europa League qualifiers, before being knocked out by

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (i ...

Pafos

In August 2019, Arajuuri moved to

Pafos FC Pafos FC ( el, Πάφος FC) is a Cypriot football club based in Paphos. The club was created in 2014, by the merger of the two biggest teams of Paphos, AEP Paphos and AEK Kouklia. They play their home games at the Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, ...

, playing in the top-tier

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus official ...

, for an undisclosed fee. Arajuuri made his league debut on 30 August 2019 in the home match against

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC ( el, AEK; for short Αθλητική Έvωση Κίτιον Λάρνακας , translit=''Athletiki Enosi Kition Larnakas'', "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club ...

. He immediately established himself in the starting lineup of Pafos and played a total of 17 league matches during the season. Arajuuri also served as the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. The

2019–20 Cypriot First Division The 2019–20 Cypriot First Division was the 81st season of the Cypriot top-level football league. On 15 May 2020, the rest of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The title was withheld, and no teams were relegated, with the ...

season was interrupted in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. In May, it was announced that the season would be abandoned. No title was awarded, and no teams were relegated, with the league expanded to 14 teams next season for a transitional year. At the point of abandonment, Pafos were seventh in the league after 23 matches.

Anorthosis Famagusta

On 30 June 2021, Arajuuri signed with

club

Anorthosis Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club f ...

on a one-year deal.

HJK

On 15 July 2022, Arajuuri returned to Finland and signed with HJK.

HIFK

On 6 February 2023, Arajuuri signed a two-year contract with

International career

Finland youth teams

Arajuuri made his debut in the

Finland national under-21 football team The Finnish national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Finland. The team qualified for the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship final tournament in 2009. UEFA U-21 Championship Record 2023 UEFA Euro Unde ...

in a friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capit ...

on 3 June 2008. Arajuuri was called up to represent Finland in the U-21 national team qualifiers for the 2011 U-21 Euros. He was a part of the squad that faced the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and Poland in September 2009, and since that become a regular. Arajuuri has also represented Finland's U23 national team in the International Challenge Trophy.

Finland first team

Arajuuri earned his first cap for

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

in a friendly against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

on 18 January 2010 in Málaga, Spain. He came on as a substitute in the 84th minute. He scored his first goal for the national team on 11 October 2015 in a

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

qualification match against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. Arajuuri was called up for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Euro ...

pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021. He played in all three games of Finnish team during the championship, serving as a captain against Russia. Along with fellow centre-back

Joona Toivio Joona Toivio (born 10 March 1988) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a defender for Veikkausliiga club HJK. He has previously played for Klubi 04, AZ, Telstar, Molde, Djurgården, and Termalica Nieciecza. Club career Early career Earlier ...

, Arajuuri announced his retirement from international football following

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tourn ...

match against France on November 16, 2021.

Career statistics

Club

¹ Including

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Lech Poznań *

: 2014–15 *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, 2016 Brøndby IF *

: 2017–18

References

sipoonsanomat.fi

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arajuuri, Paulus 1988 births Living people Footballers from Helsinki Men's association football defenders Finnish men's footballers Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers FC Jokerit players FC Honka players Klubi 04 players FC Espoo players IFK Mariehamn players Kalmar FF players Lech Poznań players Brøndby IF players Pafos FC players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players HIFK Fotboll players Veikkausliiga players Kakkonen players Ykkönen players Allsvenskan players Ekstraklasa players Danish Superliga players Cypriot First Division players UEFA Euro 2020 players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Nummelan Palloseura players