 Halme with HJK with 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aapo Ilmari Halme[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 22 May 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | HJK | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2015 | Honka | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2015[3] | Honka | 1 | (0) |
| 2015 | Klubi-04 | 15 | (1) |
| 2015–2018 | HJK | 29 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Leeds United | 4 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Barnsley | 55 | (4) |
| 2022– | HJK | 9 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2013–2014 | Finland U16 | 5 | (0) |
| 2014 | Finland U17 | 10 | (1) |
| 2015–2016 | Finland U18 | 9 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Finland U19 | 7 | (0) |
| 2017–2020 | Finland U21 | 18 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 October 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:00, 17 November 2020 | |||
Aapo Ilmari Halme (born 22 May 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Veikkausliiga club HJK. He has also represented the Finland national under-21 football team from 2017 to 2020.[4] Halme was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career playing for Honka, before signing with HJK Helsinki at age 17 in 2015.[5] He would go on to win the 2017 Veikkausliiga and 2016–17 Finnish Cup.
Formerly an international at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 level. Halme was nominated to Finland´s preliminary UEFA Euro 2020 team[6] but he did not make it to the final squad.
Club career
Early career
Halme started his youth career at FC Honka, making 1 senior appearance before joining Klubi-04, where he made 15 appearances and scored once.
HJK Helsinki
The winners of the 2015 Finnish League Cup HJK Helsinki brought in Halme from Klubi-04 on a three-year deal expiring at the end of the 2018 season as stated in his contractual obligation.[7][8][9] He made 29 league appearances over three seasons with the club, scoring once.
Leeds United
On 3 January 2018, Halme signed for Leeds United on a four-year contract for an unknown fee,[10] reported to be around £500,000. He became the fourth Finnish player to sign for Leeds after Sebastian Sorsa, Mika Väyrynen and Mikael Forssell.[11]
However, Halme picked up a serious foot injury during one of his first training sessions at Leeds in January, which was to rule him out for the remainder of the season.[12] After nearly nine months out injured, on 27 August 2018, Halme made his first appearance for the club representing Leeds Under 23's against Queens Park Rangers' Development squad.[13] On 23 November 2018, Leeds' first-team head coach Marcelo Bielsa gave Halme special praise after returning from his long injury layoff.[14] He made his debut the next day in the EFL Championship against Bristol City in a 2–0 win, after being named in the starting lineup after an injury to Pontus Jansson and long-term injuries to Luke Ayling and Gaetano Berardi.[15]
He scored his first goal for Leeds on 6 January 2019 during a 2–1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers in the third round of the FA Cup.[16]
Halme was regularly named as an unused substitute on the bench for the first team squad in the Championship, but still featured regularly for Carlos Corberán's under 23's side[17] that won the 2018-19 Professional Development League Northern Section. They then became the national Professional Development League champions by beating Birmingham City in the final.[18]
Barnsley
On 3 July 2019, Halme joined Championship club Barnsley for an undisclosed six-figure fee.[19] He made his debut for Barnsley on 13 August in a EFL Cup match against Carlisle United.[20] He scored his first goal for Barnsley in a 2–2 draw with Derby County on 2 October 2019.[21]
Return to HJK
On 25 July 2022 it was announced that Halme had signed a contract with HJK until the end of 2024.[22]
International career
Finland youth teams
Halme has represented Finland at U16, U17, U18 and U19 levels. He made his debut for Finland U21's on 8 June 2017 against Ukraine U21's. On 23 March 2019, Halme captained Finland U21 to an 8–3 victory against Norway U21.[23]
Finland first team
Halme was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021 but he remained as an unused substitute.[24]
Career statistics
- As of match played 30 November 2023
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Honka | 2014[25] | Veikkausliiga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Klubi-04 | 2015[25] | Kakkonen | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | ||
| HJK | 2015[25] | Veikkausliiga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016[25] | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2017[25] | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 15 | 0 | |||
| Total | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| Leeds United | 2018–19[26] | Championship | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | |
| Barnsley | 2019–20[27] | 32 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 34 | 4 | ||
| 2020–21[28] | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22[29] | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 55 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 4 | ||
| HJK | 2022[25] | Veikkausliiga | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2023[25] | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Total | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 113 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 140 | 7 | ||
- 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
- ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
Honours
Club
HJK
References
- ↑ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Leeds United" (PDF). English Football League. p. 21. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme career stats, height and weight, age".
- ↑ "Aapo Halme - Nieuws, foto's en statistieken".
- ↑ "Aapo Halme" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ↑ "Leeds news: Aapo Halme to complete Elland Road transfer in 'next few days'". Daily Express. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ↑ "Huuhkajien leiriryhmään uusi pelaaja" [A new player at the Eagle Owl´s training camp] (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme ja HJK pitkään jatkosopimukseen". Sportti.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme jatkaa Klubissa pitkällä sopimuksella" [Aapo Halme and HJK enter into a long-term extension agreement] (in Finnish). HJK. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme jatkaa Klubissa pitkällä sopimuksella" [Aapo Halme will stay at the Club with a long contract]. urheiluuutiset.com (in Finnish). 2 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme signs for Leeds United". Leeds United F.C. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ↑ Lee Sobot (3 January 2018). "Leeds United: Whites sign up Finland Under-19s centre-back". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ↑ "Leeds defender Aapo Halme reveals foot injury is reason for absence". Yorkshire Evening Post. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ↑ "U23 report: Leeds United 1-1 Queens Park Rangers". Leeds United. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ↑ "Marcelo Bielsa drops Aapo Halme hint with defender 'ready' to make long-awaited Leeds United debut". Yorkshire Evening Post. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ↑ "Leeds United vs Bristol City". Leeds United. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- ↑ "QPR 2–1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ↑ "'True leader' – Leeds under-23 captain Hugo Diaz impresses the fans once again". The Boot Room. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
- ↑ "Carlos Corberan on what the future can hold for Leeds United's PDL champions". Yorkshire Evening Post. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme makes Barnsley move". Leeds United F.C. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- ↑ "'Send him back to Leeds' Barnsley fans fuming after Aapo Halme's nightmare debut in cup upset". LeedsLive. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ↑ "Barnsley 2-2 Derby County". BBC Sport. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme pitkällä sopimuksella Klubiin" [Aapo Halme has signed a long contract with Klubi] (in Finnish). HJK Helsinki. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ↑ "Leeds United defender captains international side in huge victory". The72. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
- ↑ "Aapo Halme Huuhkajien mukaan" [Aapo Halme joins the Eagle Owls] (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "A. Halme". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ↑ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ↑ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ↑ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ↑ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
External links
- Aapo Halme – SPL competition record