Litmanen has been training with Lahti for some weeks in Summer 2008.

The fact that Finland have never qualified for a major tournament has also prevented Litmanen from proving his talent at the highest level in international competition.

Litmanen has not yet stated, whether he is going to continue playing or not.

He has often partnered Jari Litmanen.

Pasanen has mostly played at right back for Finland, and has also served as the national team's captain, when Sami Hyypiä and Jari Litmanen have not played.

Only since the 1980s, due to the revival of Finnish football, has the country produced such international stars as Jari Litmanen, Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Mikael Forssell, Mixu Paatelainen, Teemu Tainio and Jussi Jääskeläinen.

Only Jari Litmanen has made more appearances and scored more goals for Finland than Johansson.

Litmanen scored his first European goal for Lahti in a 2 – 0 against Gorica in the second qualifying round of UEFA Europa League, with the final aggregate score being 2 – 1.

He held the record for most caps for Finland a decade, before being overtaken by Jari Litmanen in 2006.

Litmanen was one of the star players of Louis van Gaal's team that reached the UEFA Champions League final twice in a row.

Litmanen was hailed as " one of the most exciting signings Liverpool have ever made " by the manager Gérard Houllier upon signing for the club he had supported as a boy.

Litmanen was again given permission to move clubs for free after the 2001 – 02 season, having scored a total of 9 goals in 43 official matches during his one and a half seasons at the club.

On 20 April 2011, Litmanen signed a one-year contract with the reigning Finnish champions, HJK, at the age of 40, making him one of a few players to play at a professional level in four different decades ( 80's, 90's, 00's and 10's ).

Litmanen spent seven years in Amsterdam, winning four Dutch championships and three Dutch Cups.

On 29 October 2011, Litmanen celebrated his 200th league match by giving three assists in HJK's 5 – 2 win over FC Haka.

However, the subsequent period saw the departure of manager van Gaal along with an exodus of many key players including Clarence Seedorf in 1995 ; Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Finidi George, and Nwankwo Kanu in 1996 ; Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, and Winston Bogarde in 1997 ; Ronald de Boer and Frank de Boer in 1998 ; and Edwin van der Sar and Jari Litmanen in 1999.

Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä are the most internationally renowned of the Finnish football players.

By the mid-1990s Finland started to have more players in high profile European leagues, led by the Ajax superstar Jari Litmanen.

He had arguably the most talented group of Finnish players ever at his disposal, including players such as Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Teemu Tainio and Mikael Forssell in addition to the legendary Litmanen.

Litmanen made his first-team debut for Reipas in Finland ’ s then top division Mestaruussarja at the age of 16 in 1987.

Litmanen did not win any medals in the Finnish league, but he did win the Finnish Cup with MyPa in July 1992 in a 2 – 0 win over FF Jaro in the final at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

In 1999, Litmanen was re-united with his old boss van Gaal at FC Barcelona.

Litmanen made a good start at Liverpool but broke his wrist playing for Finland against England at Anfield in late March 2001 and missed the rest of the season.

The Finns won the match 2 – 1, with Jari Litmanen becoming the first player to score a goal at the stadium.

They were unable to recover despite the late arrival of Finnish striker Jari Litmanen and at season's end were relegated, leaving the former DDR without a club in the top flight for the first time since re-unification.

He was originally signed as a replacement for Jari Litmanen, but Litmanen stayed at Ajax as his proposed move to Barcelona fell through.

Prior to his move to Ajax, Litmanen had missed a contract with a top Romanian team FC Dinamo Bucureşti, where he was refused.

Ajax team manager David Endt, who was the person responsible of the staff in Ajax around that time, described his first impression of Litmanen to the Finnish broadcasting corporation YLE in 2010:

In 1995 – 96, Litmanen was the Champions League top scorer with nine goals, including the equaliser in the final against Juventus, which Ajax lost on penalties 4 – 2.

Litmanen decided to return to Ajax, and was given a hero's welcome with the crowd again singing his name.

Houllier's failure to replace creative talents such as Gary McAllister and Jari Litmanen was also criticized.

This puts him in a group with other football legends such as George Best, George Weah and Jari Litmanen to have never played in a major international tournament.

Jari Olavi Litmanen () ( born 20 February 1971 in Lahti ) is a former Finnish footballer who last played for HJK.

Litmanen also finished 42nd in the 100 Greatest Finns voting in 2004.

The Association of Football Statisticians ' ( The AFS ) compendium of ' Greatest Ever Footballers ' listed Litmanen as the 53rd best footballer ever.

Litmanen was the long-time captain for the Finnish national team, in an international career lasting two decades.

Van Gaal liked what he saw, and knowing that Bergkamp about to leave for Internazionale, he announced that during the following season Litmanen would be Bergkamp ’ s successor, something that people in Litmanen ’ s native Finland found difficult to believe.

In the end, Litmanen moved to Liverpool on a free transfer, in January 2001.

However, Litmanen moved to German Bundesliga strugglers Hansa Rostock in January 2005 to help save them from relegation.

Litmanen joined Malmö FF in July 2005 in a bid to help the Swedes qualify for the Champions League.

This bid, however, failed, and Litmanen himself was injured during the whole of the autumn, only making a few appearances.