Flora forward Tony Varjund has returned to the club’s first-team squad for the new season after spending the past year on loan in the Netherlands with FC Utrecht.
The 18-year-old moved to Utrecht in January last year and featured mainly in the club’s youth sides. Varjund made five appearances in the Dutch second tier and, for Utrecht’s Under-19s in the autumn, played nine matches, scoring twice and registering two assists.
“Half a year was still left on the deal, but we decided to end it – I needed more playing time and that’s why I came back to Flora,” Varjund said. He added that the experience abroad had helped him “a lot as both a player and a person”, but admitted adapting took longer than expected after stepping up from Estonia into a Dutch reserve set-up.
Varjund said the biggest adjustment was the physical demand. “I was shocked when I saw how much they run during games in the Netherlands,” he said, adding that he now wants to improve aspects of his game such as holding the ball up and protecting possession for his team.
Flora sporting director Taavi Trasberg noted Varjund’s impact in 2024, when he scored eight goals and provided four assists, including a match-winning goal against FCI Levadia, and said the return could set him up for another attempt overseas in future.
Varjund said he wants to become one of Flora’s key players in the coming campaign, aiming to be seen “not as a promising youngster, but as one of the Premium Liiga’s most outstanding players”. He also said he is determined to contribute for Estonia’s Under-21s, while keeping the senior national team as a longer-term ambition.
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Source: https://fcflora.ee/rundaja-tony-varjund-naases-fc-flora-esindusmeeskonna-ridadesse/
