Niklas Pyyhtiä

Niklas Anton Juhana Pyyhtiä (born 25 September 2003 ) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Südtirol on loan from Bologna, and for the Finland national football team.

Club career TPS Pyyhtiä played in the youth sector of Turun Palloseura (TPS). He made his senior debut with TPS first team in 2019, playing in the second-tier Ykkönen. After TPS won the promotion for the next season, Pyyhtiä debuted in Veikkausliiga in 2020, making 18 appearances and scoring one goal.

Honka After TPS got relegated back to Ykkönen, Pyyhtiä was loaned out to Veikkausliiga club Honka with a purchase option, ahead of the 2021 Veikkausliiga season. Soon after the season started, Honka exercised their option to permanently sign with Pyyhtiä. The total fee was not disclosed, but TPS got a compensation of the loan and of the permanent transfer separately, and has a sell-on clause.

Bologna On 30 August 2021, Pyyhtiä signed with Serie A club Bologna for an undisclosed fee. However, the fee was reported to be around €500,000 and could potentially rise to €1 million with add-ons. Honka also has a sell-on clause. Pyyhtiä was first registered to their U19 Primavera squad.

He made his Serie A debut for Bologna on 17 January 2022 in a match against Napoli. In the 2022–23 season, he made six appearances in Serie A and additionally one appearance in Coppa Italia.

Ternana (loan) On 17 August 2023, Pyyhtiä extended his contract with Bologna until 30 June 2026, and joined Serie B club Ternana on loan for the 2023–24 season. He made his debut with the club on 19 August 2023, in a 2–1 home defeat against Sampdoria, as a 46th minute substitute to Filippo Damian. In the process, he assisted his side's only goal. On 27 February 2024, Pyyhtiä scored his first goal in Serie B for Ternana, in a 3–2 win against Palermo. He returned to Bologna in the summer 2024 after his loan deal expired.

Südtirol (loan) After having missed the rest of 2024 due to injury, on 7 January 2025, he was loaned out to Serie B club Südtirol for the remainder of the season. Five days later, he scored in his Südtirol debut, in a 1–1 draw against Catanzaro in Serie B. He scored again in the next round, in away match against Sassuolo on 19 January. Subsequently he was named the most valuable under-23 player in the Serie B for January 2025.

Modena (loan) On 16 July 2025, Pyyhtiä signed a season-long loan deal with Serie B club Modena.

Südtirol (loan) On 16 July 2026, Pyyhtiä goes back to a Südtirol on a season-long loan deal.

International career Pyyhtiä is a regular Finnish youth international. He has represented Finland in European qualifiers at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. Pyyhtiä was named in the Finland U21 squad for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament in June 2025, where he played in Finland's all three group stage matches and assisted a goal in a 2–2 draw against Denmark.

Personal life His two older brothers are ice hockey players. Mikael is a professional player for Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL, and Tuomas plays at an amateur level in Finland. Their father Tomi is a former footballer.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pyyhtiä goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Niklas PyyhtiäNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 17 November 2025 Tammelan Stadion, Tampere, Finland 3–04–0 Friendly

Honours TPS Ykkönen runner-up: 2019 Individual Serie B U-23 Player of the Month: January 2025