Juho Talvitie: Finland’s gem – written by Jake McGhee
Juho Talvitie: Finland’s gem – written by Jake McGhee
Introduction
City Football Group has a wide range of clubs from around the world in its arsenal to develop talent. In Belgium’s European hotbed of talent, Manchester City’s satellite club Lommel SK has risen through the ranks.
After an unsuccessful trial in the red half of Manchester in 2020, the young Finn decided to join Lommel SK to start his career. Previously with Ilves in his home country, he quickly progressed in the club and started to arouse interest, eyes were fixed on the platform and the young man was given an invitation to the national team’s youth series. He took advantage of the opportunity and began to make a name for himself in Finland, still hailed as one of Finland’s most promising talents. The winger’s fearless performances for his country led to Lommel and City Group becoming aware of him and finally deciding to sign him. on paper and ask the Finn to put on a green shirt.
Game style
So how good is Juho if City Group followed him from the age of 16? Juho is simply the perfect package, comfortable on the ball, incredibly agile for his 5’10 frame and mentally on top. His unique skill set makes him an incredibly sought-after profile in the modern game. He is relatively tall, physically well built for his age and powerful when lunging forward with the ball. His ability on the ball is matched by his ability off the ball, an intelligent and creative player with a good sense of when to use his left foot to cut in from the right flank, which he often hugs, keeping himself wide and spread to play or be direct and taking her husband with her. Juho is a threat to score, whether he’s taking a free kick, hitting the ball upfield or waiting for a cross upfield, he’s always proactive and on his toes ready to make an impact, as seen here when he heads inside. corner against the Faroe Islands.
His powerful runs on the ball cause serious problems for defenders as he uses his pace and directness to force a defender to tackle or dive inside.
Juho’s shooting is also incredibly impressive, a key feature of his game. He is comfortable shooting from a variety of different areas and this asset of his game is clearly well-coached as there are several clips available online of him practicing dead ball situations.
In an otherwise terrible match for Finland against Portugal, Juho was the light that allowed Finland to take the positives from the game as he gave them an early lead with a superb strike from long range after a quick free kick.
His performance against Portugal earned him praise from both sides, as even the Portuguese after the 9-1 win noticed how impressive the Finnish right winger was.
Similar players
A left-footed right winger… it’s hard to think of any player other than Arjen Robben. Both have a very similar skill set; trademark cuts in on the left and unleashes a powerful strike, sheer power and speed as they hit their stride. Ousmane Dembele is another similar player physically, although he lacks Dembele’s explosiveness. Juho is still quite the same, very refined on the ball with the ability to create a chance out of nowhere, tall and deceptively agile. As a Finn, it would be rude not to compare him to another Finn, the most iconic of all: Jari Litmanen, intelligence and creative spark can be found in both Jari and Juho, Litmanen has been declared in an interview as Juho’s hero, so it is no surprise that he models his game after him.
What next?
At only 17 years old, Juho still has a lot to prove in a professional environment, he is clearly trusted as Lommel’s starter and it would be wise for him to continue with the Belgian club for another season or two and look at his contract. As he continues to develop his game and gain invaluable professional experience, he will no doubt be noticed by the big clubs in Europe’s top leagues, and with Juho playing for the City Group, he may well return to Manchester, this time only to the blue side. Given his physical profile at such a young age, I think he would excel in Manchester City’s set-up even at youth level, the profile he offers is ideal for any manager.
He is obviously Finland’s brightest talent, and he seems destined for greatness.