Mikael Forssell

Mikael Kaj Forssell (born 15 March 1981) is a Finnish footballer currently without a contract.

Club career

Born in Steinfurt, Germany, and considered one of the most talented Finnish footballers of all time, Forssell made his Veikkausliiga debut for HJK at the age of just 16. His goal-scoring form for Finland's youth teams made him a target for a host of Europe's top clubs, and in 1998 the 17-year-old striker was snapped up by Chelsea.

But despite scoring twice in one of his earliest appearances for the club, Forssell found it hard to find a place in the Chelsea first team, and he was sent out to various loan spells, twice to Crystal Palace of the then First Division, once to Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga and twice to Birmingham City of the Premier League. Forssell scored seven Bundesliga goals for Mönchengladbach in the spring of 2003 and then 17 Premier League goals for Birmingham in the 2003–04 season (more league goals than any other Chelsea player), during which he was the division's joint fourth highest goalscorer. He was named Premier League Player of the Month for March 2004. He returned to Birmingham on loan for the 2004–05 season, but suffered the second serious knee injury of his career, which ruined his season.

In the summer of 2005, Forssell joined Birmingham on a three-year deal for a fee of £3 million, after Chelsea decided that...
Read More