Santeri Väänänen (born 1 January 2002) is a Finnish professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Eliteserien club Rosenborg, and captains the Finland under-21 national team.

Club career

HJK Helsinki

Väänänen started to play football with

Pajamäen Pallo-Veikot Pajamäen Pallo-Veiko (abbreviated PPV) is a Helsinki-based football club centred on Pajamäki. The club was formed in 1969 and has a catchment covering the western Helsinki area. From the outset the development of junior football has been an im ...

(PPV) in

Pajamäki Pajamäki ( sv, Smedjebacka) is a neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland. It is located in Pitäjänmäki district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, area ...

, Helsinki. Later he joined the youth sector of HJK at the age of 7, and played with the club's district youth team in

Munkkiniemi Munkkiniemi ( sv, Munksnäs, Helsinki slang: ''Munkka'') is a neighbourhood in Helsinki. Subdivisions within the district are Vanha Munkkiniemi, Kuusisaari, Lehtisaari, Munkkivuori, Niemenmäki and Talinranta. The land in Munkkiniemi was from th ...

along with

Matti Peltola Matti Peltola (born 3 July 2002) is a Finnish professional Association football, footballer who plays as midfielder and Defender (association football), defender for Major League Soccer club D.C. United and the Finland national football team, Fin ...

. In 2018, Väänänen made his senior debut with the club's reserve team

Klubi 04 Klubi 04 is a Finland, Finnish football (soccer), 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 ...

in the second-tier league Ykkönen. Later in the same year he debuted with the first team in Veikkausliiga, aged 16. On 17 June 2019, Väänänen renewed his contract with HJK, on a deal until the end of 2021. During the next seasons, he played occasionally in the starting line-up in the league, but his major breakthrough was delayed until the 2022 season due to injuries. Väänänen also represented HJK in the

2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Roma ...

and in the

2022–23 UEFA Europa League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa League is the 52nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 14th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final will be played at the Puská ...

group stages.

Rosenborg BK

On 7 December 2022, Norwegian Eliteserien side Rosenborg announced the signing of Väänänen on a four-year deal. The transfer was effective starting in January 2023. He made his debut with Rosenborg on 12 March 2023, as a substitute in a 2–0 Norwegian Cup defeat against Viking.

International career

Väänänen has represented Finland at various youth levels. He captains the Finland under-21 national team in the 2025 UEFA Euro U21 Championship qualifiers.Pikkuhuuhkajat kaatoi Albanian Turussa
13 October 2023, Finnish FA He made his international debut with the Finland senior national team in January 2023, in the friendly matches against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and Estonia.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

HJK * Veikkausliiga:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

* Finnish Cup:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaananen, Santeri 2002 births Living people Finnish men's footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Finland men's international footballers Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Veikkausliiga players Rosenborg BK players Eliteserien players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Men's association football midfielders Norwegian Third Division players