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On November 19, the Sarasota Paradise signed its first international player, Finnish midfielder Maximus Tainio, ahead of the club’s inaugural United Soccer League (USL) League One season in 2026. Although just 24-years-old, Tainio comes to Sarasota with a wealth of experience in professional soccer—the son of former Finland international and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Teemu Tainio, Maximus signed his first professional contract with Finland’s FC Haka at 18 and most recently played in the Ykkosliiga, the second highest level of Finnish soccer.

“I’ve been playing in Finland for about five years now and have always wanted the opportunity to go back abroad to play football,” says Tainio. “Who doesn’t want to go to a new team and show the fans and city what we’re all about?”

At 5 '10, Tainio is not the largest of midfielders, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in speed and quickness. Tainio describes himself as an “energetic” player and hopes to parlay his playing style into victories for the Paradise in 2026. “I always make myself available to get the ball, I hardly stand around in the midfield. I love long range shooting and passing—my idol is Andrea Pirlo—so I try to play like him,” says Tainio. “I have this five second rule for myself, where if we don’t have the ball and I’m close to it, I try to win the ball in five seconds so that we don’t have to defend any longer.”

The product of the European professional soccer pipeline, Tainio developed into the player he is today at the prestigious Tottenham Hotspur Academy, where he played from 2017-2020, before signing his first professional contract with FC Haka. “Being away from home at such a young age, it taught me so much and I couldn’t have asked for anything else to start my professional journey,” says Tainio. “When I got there, I wasn’t as good as some of the players they already had, but the coaches had wanted me at the Academy, which gave me the confidence to keep going. I learned the basics—every four or five meter pass had to be on point—and that when you can do the basics right, that’s how you become a good football player.”

From Northern England to Finland and now Florida, Tainio’s professional soccer journey is only getting started. He hopes that his first year in Sarasota can be one of the best yet. “I always want to aim high,” says Tainio in reference to Paradise's chances in 2026. “I don’t quite know what to expect from a new team, but finishing in the top five would be amazing for us. I want to get the city involved as much as possible in our first year and play the type of football that everyone wants to watch.”

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