The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Saints want Finn to fly internationally
Callum Davidson believes Perth is the perfect place for Eetu Vertainen to become a full Finnish international.
St Johnstone have confirmed the five-figure signing of the former Ilves forward on a two-year deal, with the player revealing he expects the work-permit saga that has dragged on for more than a month to end tomorrow.
And Saints boss Davidson is excited to get his new attacker on the training ground and to help him produce the sort of performances that will see the team kick-on after the Premiership break – and get the 22-year-old into the Finland side.
“Eetu has played international football for the under-21s so we will hopefully be able to help him take that next step into the full squad,” said Davidson, who lost star men Jason Kerr and Ali McCann on deadline day but brought in Ali Crawford, Lars Dendoncker and Cammy MacPherson on loan.
“Eetu is an exciting player. He’s a young lad who is highly-rated in Finland. He’s hungry to do well.
“He’s a good size, a good athlete and a good runner who drops into space and gets into good positions.
“If he does well here then hopefully he can get into contention for his country.
“He has a lot of ability and loads of potential.
“There are still things he needs to work on but hopefully coming here will help him improve.
“Players from the Nordic countries tend to settle well in Scotland, they have a similar mentality to what we do here.
“It’s always a gamble but we will do everything we can to help him settle in and be a success here. Fingers-crossed he will do well for us.”
Davidson added: “Eetu can also play out wide, which is what I was looking for – so he will fit into our system and give us flexibility.
“We looked a lot at that, how will he fit into our system? And we liked his athleticism and drive, so he’s someone we wanted to get on board.”
Vertainen scored four goals in 11 games for Ilves before he was snapped up by Saints.
“I quite like trying someone different, especially on the attacking side and it worked last season with Guy Melamed,” said Davidson.
“It’s a bit of a gamble, it always is when you make signings, but that is offset by the possibility of adding something a bit different.
“Do I see us changing our approach in future? No, not really because a lot of our success has come from having a core of British players who know the league.
“We have done well with players who have fallen off the rails a wee bit, someone with something to prove.”
In an interview with Ilta-Sanomat, Vertainen confirmed there is light at the end of the red-tape tunnel.
He said: “I haven’t been to training but I’ve maintained my fitness alone with the fitness coach.
“Doing it for five weeks was really hard. I’ve had to spend so much time alone. It’s been a big deal that I haven’t been able to be with the team during this time.
“On Saturday, I will finally be able to go to training. I can’t wait to get started.”
Meanwhile, Saints have secured a season-long loan deal for midfielder MacPherson from St Mirren.