Pärnu Vaprus head into a third season under Igor Prins believing that the club can move beyond being a steady mid-table side in the Estonian Premium liiga.
The club’s profile has risen significantly since last season’s Baltic Football News Best U-21 in the region and member of Estonia Best XI, striker Marten-Chris Paalberg completed a reported €1m move to Saint-Étienne in France, but Vaprus insist the departure has not dampened ambition – just the opposite. Prins says the next step is to build on recent stability to make progress up the league table.
“Once you’ve achieved a kind of stability, you expect you can grab a place higher,” Prins told Soccernet.ee. “Narva were two points away, so of course we will try to take a higher position.”
Sporting director Karl Palatu said the targets set for the past three years have been met, after Vaprus previously moved up and down between the Premium liiga and the second tier, Esiliiga. Vaprus finished sixth in 2023, seventh in 2024 and sixth again last season.
“Our goal was to become a strong mid-table team and you can say we’ve done that,” Palatu said, adding that the next objective is to close the gap to the sides battling for the top four.
Midfielder Tristan Pajo, who signed a three-year contract in December after impressing last season whilst on loan from Flora, also felt last season showed progress. “I’m rather satisfied – we were close to fifth and we competed well against everyone. It was a positive outcome,” the 20-year-old said.
Vaprus’ pre-season included a 2-2 draw with champions Flora and a 3-2 defeat by Levadia, before heavy wins against Kuressaare (9-2) and Kalev (6-0). They also lost to Latvian second tier club Metta (3-0) and Premium liiga rivals Narva Trans (2-0), and then beat a US college selection, Pro Soccer Combine, 8-1.
Vaprus begin their intended climb up the Premium liiga pecking order at home against Paide on 7th of March at 14:30
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Source: https://soccernet.ee/artikkel/suurima-briljandi-maha-muunud-vaprus-otsib-uusi-teemante-ja-ihkab-enamat-prins-suvel-raagime-siis-naeme
