Saku Ylätupa

Saku Ylätupa
Personal information
Full name	Saku Tuomas Severi Ylätupa
Date of birth	4 August 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth	Espoo, Finland
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Kalmar FF
Number	19
Youth career
	FC Espoo
2016–2017	HJK
Senior career*
Years	Team
2015–2016	Klubi 04
2016–2017	HJK
2017	→ RoPS (loan)
2017–2019	Jong Ajax
2019–2022	AIK
2020	→ IFK Mariehamn (loan)
2022	GIF Sundsvall
2023–	Kalmar FF
2024	→ Helsingør (loan)
International career‡
2014–2016	Finland U17
2016–2017	Finland U18
2016–2018	Finland U19
2018–	Finland U21
2019–	Finland
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 November 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 January 2023

Saku Ylätupa (born 4 August 1999) is a Finnish footballer who plays for Kalmar FF.^[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 20 August 2024^[11]

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	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
	Total		12	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	15	1
Helsingør (loan)	2023–24	Danish 1st Division	8	0	–		–		–		8	0
Career total			130	27	22	5	3	0	0	0	155	32

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 3 January 2019.

External links

Saku Ylätupa at National-Football-Teams.com

[soccerway-1] Saku Ylätupa at Soccerway

[2] "Saku Ylätupa". worldfootball.net. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

[3] "HJK vs. Lahti – 5 February 2016 – Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

[4] "Ylätupa tekent voor drie jaar bij Ajax". Ajax Showtime. 21 July 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.

[5] "Saku Ylätupa ansluter till GIF Sundsvall" (Press release) (in Swedish). GIF Sundsvall. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.

[6] "Välkommen till Kalmar FF – Saku Ylätupa". Kalmar FF (in Swedish). 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.

[7] FC Helsingør låner kantspiller i Kalmar FF, fchelsingor.dk, 5 January 2024

[8] Officiellt: FC Helsingör lånar Saku Ylätupa, fotbolltransfers.com, 5 January 2024

[9] FC Helsingør faldt sammen med til tider pinligt spil i sidste hjemmekamp før nedrykning: - Jeg mislykkedes, helsingordagblad.dk, 26 May 2024

[10] "Sweden v Finland game report". Eurosport. 8 January 2019.

[11] Saku Ylätupa at Soccerway. Retrieved 3 January 2019.

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