Jari Litmanen

Early career in Finland

Litmanen made his first-team debut for Reipas in Finland's then top division Mestaruussarja at the age of 16 in 1987. After four seasons with Reipas, he moved to HJK, Finland's biggest club, in 1991. A year later, he joined MyPa, where he was coached by Harri Kampman, who later introduced him to his agent, the late Heikki Marttinen. Litmanen did not win any medals in the Finnish league, but he did win the Finnish Cup with MyPa in July 1992 in a 2–0 win over FF Jaro in the final at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. His performance in the cup final, including a goal, convinced a scout of Ajax that the club should sign him. "For me, he was the player," the scout later told Finnish television. His transfer took place during the same summer, and he did not complete the Finnish football season with MyPa. Louis Van Gaal, the manager of Ajax at the time, later stated that Ajax paid a transfer fee of only £10,000 for Litmanen. However, the original fax document was later revealed in Finnish media, according to which the transfer fee was 100,000 + 800,000 Dutch guilder, which corresponds roughly to €550,000.

Ajax

Before his move to Ajax, Litmanen had failed to earn a contract with the Romanian club Dinamo București. A number of European clubs, including Barcelona, Leeds United and PSV, had shown an interest in him, but in the end it was Ajax that bought him. David Endt, who was Ajax team manager in the 1990s, described his first impression of…

Litmanen is Finland's most capped player and was Finland's leading goalscorer until 12 October 2021, when Teemu Pukki broke the record with two goals against Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier. His international career ran for 21 years from 1989 to 2010. Litmanen made his Finland debut on 22 October 1989 against Trinidad and Tobago, and scored his first goal on 16 May 1991 against Malta. Litmanen served as Finland's captain from 1996 to 2008, and was arguably their key player for more than a decade, helping the team to many unexpected victories against higher ranked opposition. Litmanen earned his 100th cap on 25 January 2006 against South Korea, one of only four Finns to have reached such a milestone, the others being Ari Hjelm, Sami Hyypiä and Jonatan Johansson. When he played for Finland against South Korea on 19 January 2010, Litmanen became one of a handful of male players to represent a national team in four different decades, a feat matched by Andorra's Ildefons Lima in June 2021. On 17 November 2010, Litmanen became the oldest player ever to score for Finland – and also the oldest player overall to score a goal in the qualifying stages for the UEFA European Championship – when he netted a penalty in an 8–0 win over San Marino, which proved to be his last international match.

In February 2011, the sports news programme Urheiluruutu of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE interviewed two of Litmanen's former teammates about the possibility of his working for Ajax when he decides to end his playing career. Former Ajax captain Danny Blind said the following:Jari knows the door is always open for him as an assistant coach, as a youth coach, whatever in the club. We love Jari, and we know his qualities as a football player, but also as a coach, I think, so the door is always open for him. Michel Kreek of the Ajax Academy was equally positive about this possibility: It would be great if Jari would return here in Ajax. We played together, Jari came to Ajax when I played in the first team, and we saw him become a world player, so if that kind of player are willing to come back to Amsterdam, to Ajax, and put some of their experience into Ajax Academy, it’s only a great help for us. He served as a TV pundit for YLE during Euro 1992, Euro 2012, World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016, and, during the latter, also wrote comment and analysis for the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat. Jari Litmanen has confirmed in his autobiography that his professional career is over. He played his last professional game in 2011.

Litmanen was born into a footballing family. His father, Olavi Litmanen, was also a Finnish international and a Reipas player. His mother also played for Reipas at the women's highest level. Litmanen became a father in November 2005 when his Estonian girlfriend Ly Jürgenson gave birth to a son named Caro. The couple's second son, Bruno, was born in September 2007. Although they avoid too much publicity, they are sometimes seen together in public. On 10 October 2010, Litmanen became the first Finnish team sport player to be honoured with a statue: it stands at Kisapuisto (Lahti) where he started his career in the 1970s. The King – Jari Litmanen is a 2012 documentary film about Litmanen's career. In late September 2019, Litmanen provoked controversy in Finland with his positive comments on the future 2022 FIFA World Cup and Qatar. Later Litmanen explained that his comments were targeted only to football conditions and infrastructure, and said that according to freedom of speech, he has a right to express his personal opinion. On 11 May 2020, Litmanen said to Unibet that his coronavirus test was positive, and he had been recovering for four weeks. He said of this time that "I've probably never been in such bad shape".

Influence in the Netherlands

Since the 1990s, name Jari has been a popular first name for newborns in the Netherlands and also in Belgium, due to Litmanen's influence. As of 2017, there were 2,188 people named Jari in the country, including professional…