Saku Ylätupa
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Saku Tuomas Severi Ylätupa | ||
| Date of birth | 4 August 1999 | ||
| Place of birth | Espoo, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | IF Gnistan | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| FC Espoo | |||
| 2016–2017 | HJK | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2016 | Klubi 04 | 30 | (17) |
| 2016–2017 | HJK | 0 | (0) |
| 2017 | → RoPS (loan) | 17 | (3) |
| 2017–2019 | Jong Ajax | 4 | (1) |
| 2019–2022 | AIK | 24 | (1) |
| 2020 | → IFK Mariehamn (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2022 | GIF Sundsvall | 27 | (5) |
| 2023–2026 | Kalmar FF | 27 | (2) |
| 2024 | → Helsingør (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2026– | IF Gnistan | 14 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014–2016 | Finland U17 | 11 | (3) |
| 2016–2017 | Finland U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Finland U19 | 17 | (3) |
| 2018– | Finland U21 | 15 | (2) |
| 2019– | Finland | 3 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 July 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 16 January 2023 | |||
Saku Ylätupa (born 4 August 1999) is a Finnish footballer who plays for Veikkausliiga club IF Gnistan.[1] A pacy two-footed Finland international, he prefers to play as an attacking midfielder, but he can also play as a central midfielder, winger or centre-forward.
Early career
Born in Espoo in 1999,[2] Ylätupa started his football career in a youth team of a local club FC Espoo, before joining HJK youth sector. Ylätupa played in Klubi-04, the reserve team of HJK.
Club career
HJK
In 2016, Ylätupa was called up for HJK first team. On 2 April 2016, Ylätupa made his senior debut in Finnish League Cup against FC Lahti at Talin jalkapallohalli, playing the game as a starting line-up during 46 minutes.[3]
Ajax
On 21 July 2017, it was announced that the midfielder had signed a three-year contract with Dutch side AFC Ajax.[4]
GIF Sundsvall
On 10 January 2022, Ylätupa signed a three-year contract with GIF Sundsvall in Allsvenskan for a €125.000 transfer fee.[5]
Kalmar FF
Following Sundsvall's relegation to the Superettan, on 16 January 2023 Ylätupa officially joined fellow Swedish side Kalmar FF for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract with the club.[6]
FC Helsingør (loan)
On 5 January 2024, he was sent on loan to Danish club Helsingør for the rest of the 2023–24 season.[7][8] At the end of the 2023-24 season, which ended with relegation to the Danish 2nd Division for Helsingør, Ylätupa left the club and returned to Kalmar.[9]
International career
He made his debut in the Finland national football team on 8 January 2019 in a friendly against Sweden, as a 68th-minute substitute for Lassi Lappalainen.[10]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 12 May 2025[11]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Klubi 04 | 2015 | Kakkonen | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 5 | ||
| 2016 | Kakkonen | 16 | 12 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 12 | |||
| Total | 30 | 17 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 17 | ||||
| HJK | 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2017 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | ||
| RoPS (loan) | 2017 | Veikkausliiga | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 3 | |
| Jong Ajax | 2018–19 | Eerste Divisie | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 1 | ||
| AIK | 2019 | Allsvenskan | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2020 | Allsvenskan | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 12 | 2 | |||
| 2021 | Allsvenskan | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 14 | 2 | |||
| Total | 24 | 1 | 13 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 | |||
| IFK Mariehamn (loan) | 2020 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| GIF Sundsvall | 2022 | Allsvenskan | 27 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 5 | ||
| Kalmar | 2023 | Allsvenskan | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | Allsvenskan | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 9 | 1 | |||
| 2025 | Superettan | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 10 | 3 | |||
| Total | 19 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 4 | ||
| Helsingør (loan) | 2023–24 | Danish 1st Division | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 136 | 28 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164 | 34 | ||
International
- As of match played 12 January 2023
| Finland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | |
References
- ↑ Saku Ylätupa at Soccerway
- ↑ "Saku Ylätupa". worldfootball.net. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ↑ "HJK vs. Lahti – 5 February 2016 – Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Ylätupa tekent voor drie jaar bij Ajax". Ajax Showtime. 21 July 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
- ↑ "Saku Ylätupa ansluter till GIF Sundsvall" (Press release) (in Swedish). GIF Sundsvall. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ↑ "Välkommen till Kalmar FF – Saku Ylätupa". Kalmar FF (in Swedish). 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ↑ FC Helsingør låner kantspiller i Kalmar FF, fchelsingor.dk, 5 January 2024
- ↑ Officiellt: FC Helsingör lånar Saku Ylätupa, fotbolltransfers.com, 5 January 2024
- ↑ FC Helsingør faldt sammen med til tider pinligt spil i sidste hjemmekamp før nedrykning: - Jeg mislykkedes, helsingordagblad.dk, 26 May 2024
- ↑ "Sweden v Finland game report". Eurosport. 8 January 2019.
- ↑ Saku Ylätupa at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
External links
- Saku Ylätupa at National-Football-Teams.com
- Living people
- 1999 births
- Finnish men's footballers
- 21st-century Finnish sportsmen
- Finnish expatriate men's footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Finland men's youth international footballers
- Finland men's under-21 international footballers
- Finland men's international footballers
- Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players
- FC Espoo players
- AFC Ajax players
- Jong Ajax players
- Rovaniemen Palloseura players
- Klubi 04 players
- AIK Fotboll players
- IFK Mariehamn players
- GIF Sundsvall players
- Kalmar FF players
- FC Helsingør players
- IF Gnistan players
- Eerste Divisie players
- Veikkausliiga players
- Allsvenskan players
- Danish 1st Division players
- Footballers from Espoo
- Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
- Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
- Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
- Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
- Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
- Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark