There, not many people can afford a leather jacket. Especially the double-breasted leather jacket with fur lining. But Jari Litmanen, now 53, is certainly one of those people as he strolls through the Old Town of his adopted hometown of Tallinn. In Finland or Amsterdam this would be impossible, but here he moves freely, seemingly another middle-aged man trying to protect himself from the cold. But from 1994 to 1996 he was the best player for Ajax, then the best men's team in the world. Of course, he was loved for his talent. But he was also loved for the way he kicked the ball and his appearance. Litmanen from the 1990s was in the mood, and it turns out that the 2024 version is not far off.
The Finn doesn't give many interviews, and certainly not in person. His reticence fueled an image of him as shy, reserved, smart, and maybe even a little arrogant. This is a reverse photo of a person walking into a room and smiling casually at the camera. Litmanen is generous with his time, courteous to everyone around him, and meticulous in his attention to detail. It's also surprisingly funny. It's not a funny laugh, but there's malice on his face and a twinkle in those dark eyes. We talk about his recent appearance in the Finnish version of Top Gun, his new Instagram account (where he shares positive news about Edwin van der Sar's recovery from a serious illness), his appearance as Diamond jeweler from Amsterdam and a comedic moment in Finnish children's films as a Dutch art dealer and an Italian pizza delivery man.
Is Litmanen in danger of being a small card? He shakes his head. “But before Covid, I played in father-son games at my son's school,” he says with a laugh. “But Covid stayed with me for several years. Now I'm trying to do more things. But it's not the same, not 100%. I can now walk, bike and cross-country ski for an hour. But I have to be careful because I remember how low I fell. I focus more on my family life in Tallinn than on football. My wife is Estonian. I live here, Finland is my country, but Amsterdam is my city.
Litmanen is certainly the greatest Finnish player of all time, although he never led his country to a major tournament. As a viewer, he is looking forward to Thursday's Euro 2024 play-off semi-final in Cardiff. “They are favorites, but not as strong as they used to be,” he says with a smile about Wales.
It's hard to overstate the respect Ajax has for Litmanen. Walk around Amsterdam and you'll see his shirt adorning apartment windows or keychains in souvenir shops, 30 years after his heyday. To put its popularity into context, Ajax has just announced its Litmanen retro clothing line. The only other player who has it is Johan Cruyff. Five Eredivisie titles, three Dutch Cups and the famous Champions League title in 1995 left their mark on the player and the club.
Things could have turned out completely differently. The path to Ajax and European glory was not clear, and Litmanen was close to signing with many other clubs as a teenager. “At the age of 17, I went to Malmö to train with Roy Hodgson,” says Litmanen. “I also visited PSV for two weeks, one week each at Leeds and Barcelona when Johan Cruyff was coach. [Barcelona] coach.
“The complication was that I had to do military service. In Finland it is mandatory. I did 11 months when I was 19. We had to survive several days in the forest when it was -25°C and also +25°C. Finland has been invaded before. People know what can happen. We have learned to protect our country with our weapons.”
Litmanen eventually earned a trial at Ajax at the age of 21 that almost ended in disaster. “I had a bad first training match playing on the right side and got kicked in the thigh. After the match, Louis van Gaal said: “No, he doesn't understand Ajax's system.” However, the physiotherapist and the chief scout were begging for another match as a second striker, in my position. Van Gaal only agreed because Dennis Bergkamp had ankle problems. I scored four goals and two assists and the next day I signed for Ajax.
“Van Gaal told me to spend the season watching Bergkamp. He was much better than me. However, Van Gaal said he would only stay one more year and then he would leave. When Bergkamp left [for Internazionale in 1993] I was ready. He showed me the way. Edgar Davids, Edwin van der Sar, Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf, Finidi George, Nwankwo Kanu all passed. I signed at the perfect time. It wouldn't have been the same if I had signed a year earlier or later.”
These youngsters were the driving force behind the Ajax team that defeated Milan in 1995. Litmanen was the pillar, creator and performer who brought it all together.
Coming from a football backwater, Litmanen always did everything in his power to gain an advantage. He went to the sauna only in shoes so that they would fit his feet, and later he lost his sponsorship deal because he did not want to switch from the Copa Mundials to the new Adidas brand.
“I tested the Predators in training – it had to be the worst session I've ever had. I am a footballer because of my feelings. The most important equipment is shoes. I've always done weird things. I was a weird guy, I trained alone and stretched all the time. I was ready to do more than others who first laughed at me and then imitated me.”
If the 1995 Champions League final was his peak, it was a bittersweet match in which the extraordinary Litmanen was replaced in the second half by Kluivert, who scored the winning goal for Ajax.
“I didn't feel well for a week, I didn't sleep and my eyes were red. I am allergic to grass and plants, but have only had a severe reaction three times in my life. One of them took place before the Champions League final. It was unlucky. It wasn't clear whether I would be able to play. I was Really tired. You have to be 100% ready when Marcel Desailly tracks you down. So I was completely eliminated in this match. The change was logical.”
Litmanen scored six goals from midfield en route to the 1995 final and was the Champions League's top scorer the following season with nine goals, including one in the final against Juventus before defeat on penalties. “We were better in 1996 than in ’95. [Frank] Rijkaard finished, Seedorf left, but we were a year more experienced. However, we were missing five players due to injury and suspension, including Marc Overmars. He was probably the most dangerous winger in Europe.
Litmanen remained at Ajax throughout the 1990s, rejecting interest from “Liverpool, Milan and Atlético Madrid”, even though many of his teammates left. “Finally, in 1999, three clubs submitted an offer: Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The choice of Barcelona was not difficult: they had the same philosophy as Ajax. These are two different clubs built from the same source. I heard [Pep] Guardiola says: “Cruyff built a chapel and we just painted it.”
However, Litmanen's first season in Catalonia was dominated by injuries. The Observer he joked at the time that he was “going the way of Pope John Paul II, appearing several times and looking weaker each time”, and by the time Litmanen recovered in the summer of 2000, the club was in turmoil.
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“President Josep Lluís Núñez has left the club after 23 years,” explains Litmanen. “Van Gaal [who also joined Barcelona from Ajax in 1997] he won two league titles in three years, but he also left. We didn't have a coach for a while. All players went to Euro. [Luís] Figo left [to Real Madrid]. It was chaos.”
Litmanen left a few months later and joined Liverpool, the club he supported as a boy. Hailed as “world class” by Gérard Houllier, he immediately made an impression on young players such as Steven Gerrard. “From the moment I saw Litmanen at Melwood, I was enchanted,” wrote the Englishman in his first autobiography. “He was like a chess grandmaster, always anticipating three or four moves ahead.”
However, as with Ajax and Barcelona, his first season with his new club was cut short. In March 2001, Litmanen broke his wrist during a World Cup qualifier against England, primarily at Anfield. Amazingly, he finished the match by almost scoring the equalizer. “It broke into eight pieces,” says Litmanen. “After the match, I collapsed in the locker room when the adrenaline wore off. I went to hospital, but I don't remember the trip.”
Recovered and full of energy, Litmanen came alive in his second season at Liverpool. “I played a lot more with Houllier, but when he had heart problems, Phil Thompson came on,” says Litmanen. “My minutes went down. Suddenly I wasn't playing at all. I remember that in September 2001 there were two matches in four days, Tottenham and Dynamo Kyiv, where I scored the only goals in two 1-0 victories. It took me another month to start another league match. As a player you think, “What did I do wrong?” But I never asked why. I have never said anything negative about the players or staff.
“I have not missed any training or match due to illness or injury. It was my best year ever, fitness-wise. People came up to me in Tesco and asked why I wasn't playing. I had no explanation.”
Litmanen returned to Ajax in 2002, and although he won another league title as the “big brother” of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he began to suffer from injuries. Some of the misfortunes were downright funny. In Malmö, a bottle of lemonade caught Litmanen's eye. “Hasse Borg, the sports director, opened it with a snuff box. Before I knew it, the top was already in my eye. For six weeks I couldn't do anything. Even now I can't see very well with that eye.
At Fulham in 2008, he fell ill with a fever and irregular heartbeat. “I went to the hospital, they put me to sleep, they shocked my heart. Then my heart rate returned to normal, but I missed three or four weeks. On his return, Fulham substitute goalkeeper Ricardo Batista accidentally shot him in the back of the head with the ball. “The next thing I remember was that I was lying on the ground. The players were all around me. I was out for seven to ten days with a concussion. Litmamen has never played for Fulham.
It would be easy for Litmanen to feel as if bad luck had ruined his talent. However, he considers the beginning of his career – signing with another European superpower from obscurity, the mentorship of Bergkamp and an excellent coach in Van Gaal – as a blessing. Along with other football legends such as the De Boer twins, Seedorf, Davids, Kluivert, Kanu and his good friend Van der Sar, he played a key role in making Ajax's good era a great era. “There has been a lot of happiness and unhappiness in my life and career,” says Litmanen with a smile. “A lot of happy things happened during this period.”
Litmanen retired in 2011 at the age of 40. An injury-prone genius whose career spanned 24 years. For several years he was one of the best and most graceful players in the world and people loved him for it, the Finnish king in glass slippers.