Minnesota United signs Finnish forward Teemu Pukki

A former Premier League striker and two-time player of the year in Finland is coming to Minnesota.

Tuesday, Minnesota United announced it signed forward Teemu Pukki to a designated player contract that runs through June 2025 and includes a club option through the end of 2025.

Pukki, who will join the Loons as soon as he gets his visa and transfer certificate, most recently spent five seasons with Norwich City, where he recorded 88 goals and 29 assists across 210 matches. He notched 10 goals and 8 assists in his final season across 43 matches.

“I feel as though we have gotten that goalscorer we have been craving ever since Christian Ramirez left. He’s a gold standard, proven goalscorer,” MNUFC Head Coach Adrian Heath said. “If you look at his record he’s scored at a high level at every team he’s played for. His goalscoring record in the Premier League, the Championship and the Finnish National Team speaks for itself. He’s a great professional, what you see is what you get, always as a smile on his face, gets his work done and is a great teammate. The fact is, he scores goals and I know that if we continue to create the opportunities we have this season he will no doubt be successful in this league. We are delighted to get him here and get him integrated with the group.”

“With Teemu, what we’re doing is we’re adding an incredible guy and an incredible pro, which is something that’s important to us,” Minnesota United Technical Director Mark Watson added. “On the field, it’s pretty simple: He’s an elite goal scorer. I think he’s got a lot more to his game than that. He’s a really good soccer player and he can hold the ball, bring others into play. It’s a real credit to the club and our growth in terms of how we go about our business, but also being a club that can attract these types of players. Teemu Pukki was a free agent – he could have gone anywhere – and he had a lot of offers from big clubs in top leagues around the world, and he chose Minnesota.”

Internationally, Pukki, 33, is the all-time leading goal-scorer for Finland, having scored 38 times in 112 appearances. He’s also tallied 15 assists, two of which came during this month’s European Qualifiers, where he was teammates with Minnesota United midfielder Robin Lod.