Mihkel Aksalu

Kuressaare

Aksalu joined the youth system of his hometown club Kuressaare and played for their reserve team Muhumaa (renamed Sörve in 2002). He made his debut in the Meistriliiga in his single appearance for Kuressaare on 23 September 2000, in a 4–1 away win over Valga.

Flora

In December 2002, Aksalu was included in Flora's first team squad for pre-season training. During his first seasons with the club, he mostly played for the club's reserve side Tervis Pärnu. Aksalu became a regular starter for Flora in the 2006 season. His first trophy with Flora came in the 2007–08 Estonian Cup.

Sheffield United

On 29 January 2010, following a successful trial, Aksalu signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Championship club Sheffield United for a transfer fee of £180,000. Kevin Blackwell, Sheffield United's manager at the time, claimed Aksalu was the best goalkeeping triallist he had seen in a long time and had the potential to become Estonia's number one. However, Aksalu failed to impress new manager Gary Speed and was unable to break into the first team. On 6 October 2010, Aksalu joined Conference National club Mansfield Town on a two-month loan. He remained sidelined through most of his spell due to an abdominal muscle problem, making only three appearances before returning to Bramall Lane in December. After a lengthy spell on the sidelines following back surgery, Aksalu was released by the club on 19 January 2012.

Return to Flora

Following…

Aksalu has represented Estonia at under-16, under-17, under-20 and under-21 levels, amassing 20 youth appearances overall. He made his senior international debut for Estonia on 17 October 2007, playing the first half of a friendly match against Montenegro, where he conceded the only goal of the game. In 2015, he succeeded Sergei Pareiko as Estonia's number one goalkeeper. With the emergence of young Karl Hein, Aksalu was left out of the national team selection in 2020 and 2021. However, with the whole team's isolation due to COVID-19 in March 2021 and Hein's injury in November 2021, Aksalu was recalled to the national team to face Belgium and Czech Republic for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Club

As of match played 3 December 2023.

International

As of match played 26 March 2019.

Club

Flora

Estonian Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09 Estonian Supercup: 2009 SJK

Veikkausliiga: 2015 Ykkönen: 2013 Finnish Cup: 2016 Finnish League Cup: 2014

Individual

Baltic League Best Goalkeeper: 2007 Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: May 2015 Veikkausliiga Goalkeeper of the Year: 2015 SJK Player of the Year: 2015