Karl Hein (footballer)

Karl Hein
Hein playing for Arsenal in 2023
Personal information
Full name Karl Jakob Hein[1]
Date of birth (2002-04-13) 13 April 2002[2]
Place of birth Põlva, Estonia
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Position Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Werder Bremen
Number 1
Youth career
2010–2015 Loo
2015–2018 Nõmme United
2018–2022 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018 Nõmme United 5 (0)
2018–2026 Arsenal 0 (0)
2022 → Reading (loan) 5 (0)
2024–2025 → Valladolid (loan) 31 (0)
2025–2026 → Werder Bremen (loan) 2 (0)
2026– Werder Bremen 0 (0)
International career‡
2017–2018 Estonia U17 14 (0)
2019 Estonia U19 3 (0)
2019 Estonia U21 2 (0)
2020– Estonia 47 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:21, 1 July 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:05, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

Karl Jakob Hein (born 13 April 2002) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Werder Bremen and the Estonia national team.[4]

Club career

Nõmme United

Hein began his youth career at JK Loo at the age of eight, before moving to the youth team of Nõmme United in 2015.[5] He made five senior appearances for Nõmme United in the Estonian third tier, Esiliiga B,[6] before joining the academy of English club Arsenal in May 2018.[7]

Arsenal

Hein signed his first professional contract with the club in May 2019.[8] He appeared in the Arsenal squad as an unused substitute for the first time on 29 October 2020, in the Europa League match against Dundalk.[9][10]

After playing for the Arsenal first-team in the 2021–22 pre-season, including his non-competitive debut against Hibernian, Hein signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal on 17 September 2021.[11]

On 10 November 2022, Hein made his debut for the Arsenal first-team in the EFL Cup third round against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium, conceding a foul in the penalty area and the resulting spot-kick against Danny Welbeck as Arsenal lost 3–1.[12]

Loan to Reading

On 24 January 2022, Reading announced the signing of Hein on loan from Arsenal until the end of the 2021–22 season.[13][14]

Loan to Valladolid

On 13 August 2024, Hein completed a season-long loan move to newly-promoted La Liga side Real Valladolid.[15][16]

Hein and Valladolid started the season with a clean-sheet and a 1–0 victory over Espanyol.[17]

Werder Bremen

On 22 August 2025, Hein completed a season-long loan move to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.[18]

On 26 September, Hein made his Bundesliga debut for Werder Bremen in a 4–0 away defeat to Bayern Munich.[19] Despite conceding four goals, he was praised for his performance, with Bremen’s managing director Clemens Fritz describing it as “top-notch” and the club captain Marco Friedl naming him their best player on the day.[20]

On 22 May 2026, Werder exercised their option to make the transfer permanent.[21]

International career

Hein was capped by Estonia at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level.[22] He made his international debut for the Estonia national team on 5 September 2020, in a 0–1 loss against Georgia in the UEFA Nations League.[23] Since his debut, Hein has become a regular starter for Estonia.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 October 2025[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nõmme United 2018 Esiliiga B 5000———50
Arsenal U21 2020–21 —————1[a] 010
2021–22 —————1[a]010
2022–23 —————1[a]010
2023–24 —————1[a]010
Total ————4040
Arsenal 2021–22 Premier League 000000000000
2022–23 Premier League 00001000—10
2023–24 Premier League 000000000000
Total 000010000010
Reading (loan) 2021–22 Championship 500000——50
Real Valladolid (loan) 2024–25 La Liga 31010———320
Werder Bremen (loan) 2025–26 Bundesliga 2000———20
Werder Bremen 2026–27 Bundesliga 0000———00
Career total 43010100040480
  1. 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

International

As of match played 9 June 2026[25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Estonia 202060
202160
202260
202390
202490
202580
202630
Total470

Honours

International

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Updated squad lists for 2019/20 Premier League". Premier League. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  2. ↑ "Karl Hein - Werder Bremen". Kicker. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  3. ↑ "Karl Hein Profile & Stats". Premier League. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  4. ↑ "Karl Hein to join Werder Bremen on permanent deal". Karl Hein to join Werder Bremen on permanent deal. 24 May 2026. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "Saage tuttavaks: Karl Jakob Heina teekond Inglismaa tippklubisse" [Meet him: Karl Jakob Hain's journey to the top club in England]. Estonian Football Association (in Estonian). 28 April 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "Karl Jakob Hein". Estonian Football Association (in Estonian). Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "Arsenal complete signing of Estonian youngster Karl Jakob Hein". Metro.co.uk. DMG Media. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Karl Hein signs first professional contract". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "Arsenal-Dundalk". UEFA. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  10. ↑ JeorgeBird (15 November 2020). "Karl Hein making an impact for club and country". Arseblog News – the Arsenal news site. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Karl Hein signs new long-term contract". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Report: Arsenal 1–3 Brighton & Hove Albion". Arsenal F.C. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  13. ↑ "Arsenal Stopper Karl Hein makes Royals loan move". Reading F.C. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  14. ↑ "Arsenal's Hein joins Reading on loan". BBC Sport. 24 January 2022.
  15. ↑ "Karl Hein joins Real Valladolid on loan". Arsenal FC. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  16. ↑ "Karl Hein, un nuevo guardián para el Pucela" [Karl Hein, a new guardian for Pucela]. Real Valladolid (in Spanish). 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "Heinast sai Hispaania kõrgliiga hooaja esimene nullimängu teinud väravavaht". soccernet.ee. 19 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "Karl Hein joins Werder Bremen on loan". 23 August 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  19. ↑ "Der Spielbericht zum Auswärtsspiel beim FC Bayern – Bayern zu stark: Werder unterliegt in München". Werder.de. 26 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  20. ↑ "Karl Hein vom SV Werder Bremen überzeugt beim FC Bayern". Sky.de. 27 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  21. ↑ "Backhaus leaves Werder – Hein to become new number one". SV Werder Bremen. 22 May 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Karl Jakob Hein". jalgpall.ee (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Eesti parim Gruusia vastu – Karl Jakob Hein" [Estonia's best against Georgia – Karl Jakob Hein]. Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 6 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  24. ↑ Karl Hein at Soccerway
  25. ↑ "Karl Hein". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "Estonia v Latvia" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  27. ↑ "Aasta meesjalgpalluriks valiti esmakordselt Karl Jakob Hein". Estonian Football Association (in Estonian). 21 December 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  28. ↑ "Eesti parimad jalgpallurid on Rauno Sappinen ja Kristina Bannikova (galerii)" [The best footballers in Estonia are Rauno Sappinen and Kristina Bannikova]. Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 20 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  29. ↑ "Aasta meesjuuniori tiitli pälvis Karl Jakob Hein" [The male junior of the year title was awarded to Karl Jakob Hein] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 12 December 2021. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  30. ↑ "Aasta meesjuunior on Karl Jakob Hein". Estonian Football Association (in Estonian). 22 December 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
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