Lassi Lappalainen

Lassi Roni Kasperi Lappalainen (born 24 August 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Veikkausliiga club HJK.

Club career Early career Born in Espoo in 1998, Lappalainen started his football career with Espoon Palloseura (EPS) and later moved to HJK youth team. Lappalainen played in Klubi 04, the reserve team of HJK.

HJK In 2016, Lappalainen was called up for HJK's first team. On 2 April 2016, he made his Veikkausliiga debut against IFK Mariehamn at Sonera Stadium, being substituted on by coach Mika Lehkosuo in place of Nnamdi Oduamadi in the 90th minute. Lappalainen also represented HJK youth in UEFA Youth League twice, in 2015–16 and 2016–17. Two days later, he scored his first league goal for RoPS just five minutes into his debut after coming on as a substitute.

Bologna On 19 July 2019, Lappalainen signed to Italian Serie A club Bologna. HJK Helsinki stated it received "significant compensation" and that economically, the transfer was in the "top 7 of HJK's club history". The transfer fee was later reported to be €700.000.

CF Montreal On 25 July 2019, it was announced that Lappalainen was loaned to Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise Montreal Impact, later renamed as CF Montréal, for the remainder of the 2019 season using $180,000 of the Targeted Allocation Money. The Impact have options to extend the loan until 30 June 2020, as well as until 31 December 2020. On 27 July 2019, he contributed two goals to Montreal Impact's 4–0 victory over the first-place Philadelphia Union on his MLS debut.

On 3 December 2021, Lappalainen's move to Montréal was made permanent, on a deal until the end of 2024, with an option to extend it. In late November 2024 it was announced he would leave the club after the 2024 season.

Columbus Crew Lappalainen joined Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew on 8 January 2025, on a one-year contract with a club option for 2026. At the end of season Lappalainen's contract option was declined.

Second Stint at HJK On 5 February 2026, he re-signed for Veikkausliiga side HJK on a two-year contract.

International career Lappalainen made his debut for the Finland national team on 8 January 2019 in a friendly against Sweden, as a starter.

Lappalainen was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Montreal Impact Canadian Championship: 2019 2021