Mika Väyrynen

Early career

Väyrynen started his career with FC Lahti and joined FC Jokerit for the 2001 season.

Heerenveen

Midway through that year Heerenveen beat Inter Milan to his signature, Väyrynen opting for the Dutch club in order to have a better chance of a regular starting place. The transfer fee was not disclosed but is rumoured to be in seven figures. He immediately broke into the Heerenveen side, though the switch from a summer to winter season meant he began to suffer from injury problems. However, in 2003–04 he became their key player in midfield, and ended up scoring 17 goals in 100 Eredivisie games.

PSV

In the summer of 2005, Väyrynen joined PSV, upon joining stating, "PSV is the best option for me. At Heerenveen I learned to play more simple football. I am not the player I was in Finland any more, tactically and physically especially I have grown a lot." He was brought in to replace Mark van Bommel by PSV manager Guus Hiddink. Väyrynen was, however, ruled out for much of the early 2005–06 season with an ankle injury. Väyrynen returned to action as a substitute on 17 December 2005 against Willem II, and immediately scored his first goal for PSV. He was not able to earn a regular starting place in the spring season, and mostly made substitute appearances, as PSV secured the Dutch title for the second year in a row. Väyrynen was linked with a move to Rangers and newly promoted Premier League side Derby County as they looked to strengthen for the…

Väyrynen was a key player for the Finland national team. He made his debut on 20 March 2002 against South Korea. Väyrynen's breakthrough for Finland came in June 2003, when he was the star performer in matches against Serbia and Montenegro and Italy. Väyrynen was also a key player for Finland at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

In 2018, Väyrynen started as an assistant coach of Klubi 04, the reserve team of HJK Helsinki. In May 2019, Väyrynen was promoted to an assistant coach of HJK first team. He was named the head coach of Klubi 04 for the 2021 season, when the club played in Ykkönen. On 24 November 2023, Väyrynen was named the manager of new Honka Akatemia. The club gained a position of Kakkonen from FC Honka's former reserve team, after Esport Honka was declared bankruptcy in November 2023.

Väyrynen was born in Eskilstuna, Sweden, where his Finnish father worked. He grew up in Karjaa, Finland.