The 17-year-old, who signed from Meistriliiga side Pärnu JK Vaprus, brings his former club a 20 percent cut of the €1 million signing fee. He said, "The project they presented to me really spoke to me," adding, "I'm not joining a youth team — I'll be playing men's football."

Paalberg's agent, Harri Ojamaa, began working with both the player and Vaprus in September, and said interest from clubs emerged "within days" at the end of the September transfer window.

Saint-Étienne were not the only team interested: Clubs from Europe's top five leagues — Serie A (Italy), La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), and the English Premier League (EPL) — were all reportedly in the running. Around half a dozen EPL clubs, including Brentford, Bournemouth, and Brighton, were among those interested, Pärnu Postimees reported.

Paalberg's breakout season came last year with Pärnu Vaprus, and his contract with Saint-Étienne runs until 2028. The team had shown interest in November, but the deal was delayed due to Paalberg still being a minor.

The previous Estonian transfer record was set in 1999 when Danish club Aalborg paid €950,000 to FC Flora for striker Andres Oper.

AS Saint-Étienne, based in the commune of the same name in eastern-central France, currently competes in the second tier Ligue 2, though they were for decades a fixture at the top level and were runners-up to Bayern Munich in the 1976 European Cup final. The club retains somewhat of a cult following, and U.K. 1990s indie-dance act Saint Etienne were supposedly named after the team.

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