Mika Väyrynen

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Personal information
Mika Väyrynen
Väyrynen on the cover of Finnish sports magazine Urheilulehti
Full name	Mika Väyrynen
Date of birth	December 28, 1981 (1981-12-28) (age 26)
Place of birth	Eskilstuna, Sweden
Height	180 cm
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	PSV Eindhoven
Number	7
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999-2000 2001 2001-2005 2005-	FC Lahti FC Jokerit SC Heerenveen PSV	36 (11) 30 (4) 101 (17) 29 (2)
National team²
2002-	Finland	24 (2)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 September 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 21 November 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Mika Väyrynen (born December 28, 1981 in Eskilstuna, Sweden) is a Finnish footballer who currently plays for PSV Eindhoven.

A two-way midfielder, Väyrynen played for FC Lahti and FC Jokerit in Finland's Veikkausliiga before joining the Netherlands' SC Heerenveen in 2001. During his four seasons at Heerenveen he became one of the club's key players, making a total of 101 appearances and scoring 17 goals in the league.

In the summer of 2005 Väyrynen took the next step in his career by joining Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. He was, however, ruled out for much of the early 2005-06 season with an ankle injury. Väyrynen returned to action as a substitute on December 17, 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 is also one of the key players for the Finnish national team. He made his debut on March 20, 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. He is expected to form a strong midfield partnership with Teemu Tainio for years to come. Väyrynen was also a key player for Finland at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Väyrynen started his career with FC Lahti and joined FC Jokerit for the 2001 season. Midway through that year SC Heerenveen beat FC Internazionale Milano to his signature, Väyrynen opting for the Dutch club in order to have a better chance of a regular place. 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 before joining PSV Eindhoven in summer 2005. "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," said Väyrynen, who went on to collect a championship medal in 2006.

Väyrynen was linked with a move to Scottish giants Rangers and newly-promoted Premier League side Derby County as they looked to strengthen for the 2007-08 season. Väyrynen almost moved to Derby in August 2007, but the move collapsed because of a calf injury.