Aapo Halme leaves Leeds for Barnsley

Leeds United announced the departure of Aapo Halme today. The 21 year-old central defender made five senior appearances in 18 months at the club and scored one goal, coming in the FA Cup loss away to Queens Park Rangers.

Halme has joined fellow Yorkshire side Barnsley FC on a permanent deal.

Per the club’s official website:

Leeds United defender Aapo Halme has today joined fellow Sky Bet Championship side Barnsley on a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee.

The centre-back joined Leeds from HJK Helsinki in January 2018 and went on to make five appearances for the club, scoring one goal.

Everyone at the club would like to thank Aapo for his efforts and wish him all the best for the future.

Halme came to Leeds after making a number of appearances in the first team for Finnish first division champions HJK Helsinki. He was brought in with a view that he would be able to compete for a first team place within a few months, but it never seemed to work out that way for the Finland U21 international.

Halme goes down the road to Barnsley, and is the second Leeds defender who played for the first team under Paul Heckingbottom to make the switch to a nearby club. Paudie O’Connor, who also got some playing time in the first team at the end of the 2017-18 season, joined Bradford City on a permanent deal early this summer.

U23 captain and central defender Hugo Diaz also left the club during the summer transfer window, but the club still has former Ajax youth player Pascal Struijk as a central defence prospect.

As the club said, good luck to Halme, and hope he has a good career at Barnsley.