Pukki joins North American club Minnesota United

Legendary Finnish footballer Teemu Pukki has joined the North American Club Minnesota United after ending his five years career at Norwich City in England.

The Minnesota United announced on Tuesday that the club signed forward Pukki, the all-time leading scorer for the Finnish national football team to a Designated Player contract through June 2025 with a club option through December 2025, said the club in a press release.

Pukki will join the Loons pending receipt of his P1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and will occupy an international roster spot.

“I feel as though we have gotten that goal-scorer we have been craving ever since Christian Ramirez left. He’s a gold standard, proven goalscorer,” said MNUFC Head Coach Adrian Heath.

“If you look at his record he’s scored at a high level at every team he’s played for. His goalscoring record in the Premier League, the Championship and the Finnish National Team speaks for itself. He’s a great professional, what you see is what you get, always as a smile on his face, gets his work done and is a great teammate. The fact is, he scores goals and I know that if we continue to create the opportunities we have this season he will no doubt be successful in this league. We are delighted to get him here and get him integrated with the group,” the Head Coach added.

Pukki was a standout goalscorer in the English Premier League with Norwich. There, Pukki appeared in 210 matches, scoring 88 goals and recording 29 assists – his 88 goals scored would make him the fourth all-time leading goalscorer in the club’s 120-year history.

In his final season with Norwich City, he tallied 10 goals and eight assists through 3,054 minutes played across 43 overall matches.

He made his professional debut at 15 years old with FC KTP during the Finnish Cup in June 2005. Pukki also had stints in three top soccer leagues (German Bundesliga, Scottish Premiership and Danish Superliga) and two Spanish leagues (LaLiga 2 and Segunda Federación).

“With Teemu [Pukki], what we’re doing is we’re adding an incredible guy and an incredible pro, which is something that’s important to us. On the field, it’s pretty simple: He’s an elite goal scorer. I think he’s got a lot more to his game than that. He’s a really good soccer player and he can hold the ball, bring others into play,” said Minnesota United Technical Director Mark Watson.

“It’s a real credit to the club and our growth in terms of how we go about our business, but also being a club that can attract these types of players. Teemu Pukki was a free agent – he could have gone anywhere – and he had a lot of offers from big clubs in top leagues around the world, and he chose Minnesota.”

Internationally, Pukki is the all-time leading goalscorer for Finland with 38 goals through 112 appearances since his debut in 2009.

The 33-year-old has also tallied 15 assists, two of which he tallied during the European Qualifiers in June 2023. He is teammates with midfielder Robin Lod.