EIKON CLIENTS IN FINLAND
1. Yann Fillion, 26-years-old, goalkeeper, IFK Mariehamn, Veikkausliiga
Finding himself back in Finland for a third year, Yann has been able to build himself a very stable platform in his career abroad. Making the jump from Ekenas IF, in the Finnish 2nd tier, to AC Oulu, in the 1st tier last season and now signing a new contract with IFK Mariehamn for the 2022 season. Fillion finds himself as the sixth Canadian in the club’s history to suit up for them. Yann himself is one of just three Canadian goalkeepers currently playing in the 1st tier of a European country. IFK Mariehamn is a club with some significant history, this will be their 17th consecutive season playing in the 1st tier of Finland, in years past they’ve seen themselves playing in European competitions, including the Champion’s League 2nd qualifying round back in 2018 against Legia Warsaw. As it goes every year, players will set new objectives and personal goals to achieve by season’s end. For Yann, he’s been able to achieve steady progression following each season in Finland. This type of progress is only achievable with steady and consistent performances on the pitch – that’s the objective for Yann, continue to be solid, while making a name for himself in his new home on the Aland Islands. Since he arrived in Finland, Yann has made 46 starts in all competitions to go with 11 clean sheets from those appearances. He sports an equally as solid 1.5 G.A.A in all competitions played in Finland. With a full season in 2022, we should see Yann reach 100 professional appearances which is a solid feat for a goalkeeper that still hasn’t reached his “prime” years.
2. Zachary Sukunda, 26-years-old, Mid-Fielder, PEPO, Ykkonen
Mr. PEPO aka Zachary Sukunda – Zach came to Finland in 2020, alongside then teammate and childhood friend Yann Fillion, when they both signed with EIF and helped the team to a fourth-place finish. Fast forward 26-months or so, you find him preparing for his 3rd straight season in Finland, with recently promoted Ykkonen club, PEPO Lappeenranta. Zach’s time in Finland has given new life to his career after leaving North America in search of a new challenge in Scandinavia. Although he had previously played a season in Sweden, there is still a stark contrast that exists between Finland and Sweden. Lappeenranta, the city that PEPO plays in, is bordering Russia, naturally the culture and lifestyle that residents of Lappeenranta take on is going to be different than those that come from parts of Finland bordering Sweden or Norway, for example.
When Zach came to Finland and started out with EIF, he was playing as a right-back exclusively. After the season with EIF, Zach was lured to PEPO with the promise of playing a big role in the team as a more advanced player. Playing higher up the field was something Zach had always felt capable of doing, considering he was always more of an attack-minded, full-back to begin with. Sometimes taking a step-back to take a step forward is what’s required for a player. This was exactly what happened with Zach, not only did he swap the green of Ekenas for the purple of PEPO, he played as a winger and a central mid-fielder in PEPO. This move yielded results, Sukunda went on to score 5 goals and add 6 assists across 24 matches starring in PEPO’s mid-field. PEPO saw themselves finish 2nd in the Kakkonen table, unfortunately, across the three groups competing in Kakkonen, PEPO would have been first in 2 of the 3, they found themselves only trailing rival JaPs who would be the only team from their group to move into the 2nd tier. Sadly, leaving PEPO in the 3rd tier for the next season, despite a tremendous effort to promote, including winning the league cup. Undeterred, Zach decided to re-sign with the club who made a big effort to retain him after the season he had just put together. Zach didn’t only produce on the field when it came to goal contributions, but his high effort level and will to win allowed him to be a culture-setter for the club, something that is invaluable for a team that has high ambitions. After re-signing, Zach and PEPO got some great news. Another club in Finland was facing financial difficulties that would force them to remove themselves from Ykkonen, the league that PEPO had narrowly missed out on. With this happening, PEPO was given first rights to take their place given where they finished last season. Without hesitation, the club jumped on the opportunity and now finds themselves weeks out from their first campaign in the country’s 2nd tier of football. For Zach, it’s his 2nd campaign in the 2nd tier, this time he’s going to be playing as a mid-fielder, he’s also found himself wearing the captain’s armband a few times during pre-season. One step back, two steps forward, we look forward to seeing what type of season MR. PEPO can produce in 2022.
3. Jeannot Esua, 25-years-old, Wing-back, PEPO, Ykkonen
After 3-years playing in Canada, with Canadian Premier League side FC Edmonton, Jeannot Esua finds himself making a similar move to the one Zach Sukunda made back in 2020. The athletic and always exciting full-back joins fellow Eikon client, Sukunda in Lappeenranta. This move was intentional and sought out by our agency. Part of the allure for Jeannot to sign with the agency was the connections we carry in Finland. Truth be told, the initial target was maybe ambitious, as we feel Jeannot has the qualities to immediately jump to Veikkausliiga but coming off a season where playing time was a bit more limited than normal in Edmonton, Jeannot was happy to find a team in Finland that he would play a big role with and get him in front of scouts from the country’s 1st tier. That’s exactly what this move does and should lead to for Esua, as he embarks on a new journey in Finland. The goal will certainly be to distinguish himself as the best full-back in the country that is not playing in the 1st tier. If he’s able to do that, a move up the ranks in 2023 should be soon to follow. For now, Jeannot who is always diligent and keeping his head down in favor of the daily grind, will continue to do so until that time comes where he makes the jump. Not unique for most players, it’s about getting into Europe and getting a season under your belt, after that the rest is simple – perform and teams will begin to identify and recruit you.
4. Jakob Gottberg, 19-years-old, Winger, EIF, Ykkonen
“Jacke” had a whirlwind of an off-season that may not have been conventional but one that we believe will benefit him in the long run. After a solid season outside of Finland for the 19-year-old winger, he opted not to return to Ytterhogdal (Sweden Division 2) despite there being interest from their side to retain Jakob. Instead, we felt he had gained valuable experience abroad and now would be the time to leverage that into opening some new doors in Finland. Trials ensued at; SJK, HJK and lastly PEPO, all of which feedback was positive and may have led to a contract, but in the end, Gottberg opted to return to his familiar stomping grounds in the South of Finland, with Ekenas IF (EIF). A club who he made his 1st team debut for at just 17-years-old. After spending time on trial at the various clubs mentioned above, Jakob felt confident that he would be a more regular fixture in EIF this year because of the time he spent abroad, where he further developed his game and matured as a player and person. Things are off to a good start for Jakob after 5 pre-season matches in the Ykkonen Cup with EIF, where he started twice and played 171 minutes total. EIF also look poised to be a club close to the top of the table this season, which bodes well for Jakob if he can continue to earn minutes. As just a 19-year-old, his versatility will ultimately be what allows him to maximize his minutes this season, as he’s already spent time at LW, RW and wing-back through pre-season with his hometown club. The future is looking bright for Jakob, and we’re excited to see what he can do in his fourth season in the Ykkonen.
5. Jordan Faria, 20-years-old, Attacking mid, MuSa, Kakkonen
The last deal to be concluded in the Finnish market for an Eikon client was the deal that sees Jordan Faria head to Musan Salama in the 3rd tier of Finnish football. Jordan is a former player of the Canadian youth national team, Toronto FC 2 and most recently York United in the CPL. Because Jordan possesses a European passport through his Portuguese ancestors, a move to Finland was able to be solved even though it was quite late in the window when Jordan’s reps at PFC reached out to Eikon’s lead agent Joshua Carabatsakis. “Anytime you’re scrambling for a deal in the winter window and it’s late February/early-March it’s less than ideal, but we had a previous relationship with Alfonso and Jordan at PFC and that was equitable for both parties, so I felt confident given Jordan’s resume and EU connections that we could find him something in Finland even though we were up against time”. Fast forward about two weeks into the partnership and MuSa head coach, Ville Ulanen, identified Jordan through Eikon and was immediately drawn to the creativity and high-level technical abilities Jordan demonstrated in his video. MuSa may be in 3rd tier this season, but since 2015 they played in the 2nd tier and have normally been a solid team in Ykkonen, so for them it’s important to bring in players of Jordan’s quality to help them make the push back up to Ykkonen where they belong. Fast forward to mid-March and Jordan is boarding a flight to Helsinki from Toronto, which sees him then take a 2-hour train ride to the city of Pori, where the football club, MuSa is based. Jordan first needed to show himself on trial with the club before they would sign him. “I was given a call after about 3 days by Ville, the head coach, that he wanted to sign Jordan already and he’s been very impressive in a short amount of time, including scoring goals in their pre-season friendlies and making an immediate impact as a trialist in their starting XI.” Recounts Joshua Carabatsakis of Eikon Sports Group. Just like that everything took care of itself, and Jordan officially signed with MuSa on April 1, 2022. Like the rest of Eikon’s clients playing in Finland, this move represents a launch point in Europe for Jordan to spark his career abroad, at 21-years-old, he has plenty of time to climb the ladder and if the early indications are anything to go off, who knows where he could be by 23-24-years old.
