Florian Grégoire Claude Lejeune (born 20 May 1991) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club Rayo Vallecano.

Career

Early career

Lejeune was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and began his football career in July 1998 at the Centre de Formation de Paris, a youth sporting club designed to cater only to football players under the age of 19. After four months at the academy, he departed for Racing Club des Ternes, a local sporting club based in the

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' ("the eighth"). The arrondissement, ...

. Lejeune spent two years at the club and, in 2000, was signed by

Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French Sports club, omnisport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located a ...

. He spent the majority of his youth career at the club and, after a five-year stay, moved down south to join Béziers Méditerranée Cheminots, a

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

more known for its

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

department. With Béziers, Lejeune played in the ''Championnat de France 14 ans Fédéraux'' league. After one year at Béziers, Lejeune joined the youth academy of

Sète Sète (; oc, Seta, ), also historically spelt ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises' ...

. After two years with the club, he signed an amateur contract with Adge, which was playing in the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

, the fourth level of French football. Lejeune spent the majority of the 2008–09 season playing on the club's reserve team. Towards the end of the campaign, he was called up to the senior team and made his amateur debut on 11 April 2009 appearing as a substitute in a 3–1 defeat to Gazélec Ajaccio. On 23 May, he made his first start in a 3–2 victory over Gap. The following week, Lejeune scored both goals for Agde in a 2–2 draw with Fréjus Saint-Raphaël.

Istres

In the summer of 2009, Lejeune joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

club Istres on trial. After impressing in two friendly matches, he was signed to a three-year professional contract and inserted onto the club's reserve team. Lejeune arrived at the club playing primarily in the defensive midfielder role, but ultimately switched to the centre back position. His positive play during the fall season with the reserves led to the player being called up to the senior team in January 2010. Lejeune made his professional debut on 19 January in a league match against Guingamp in a 0–0 draw with the player playing the entire match. Lejuene finished the campaign with 14 more appearances in the league playing the entire match in all of them. Lejeune began the 2010–11 season as a starter and made his season debut in a 4–0 defeat to

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

in the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

. In September, he was a surprise inclusion in the France under-20 team. His subsequent uprising into the spotlight and positive play with Istres led to the player being declared one of the best players in Ligue 2, despite only playing in a handful of matches. On 4 January 2011, French newspaper L'Equipe announced that Spanish club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

was monitoring Lejeune's progress. He was, subsequently, linked to a host of other clubs, notably English clubs

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and Italian clubs Napoli and Udinese with all the clubs reportedly likening him to former French international

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (born 19 November 1965) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname ''Le Président'', which was given to him ...

. However, despite the speculation, club president Francis Collado declared that he had not had official contact with any club linked to the player.

Villarreal

On 7 July 2011, French newspaper '' L'Equipe'' confirmed that Lejeune had reached an agreement with Spanish club Villarreal to sign a four-year contract.{{cite web , https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/57933386.amp%7C{{Dead link, date=April 2024 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes publisher =

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, title = Newcastle United defender Florian Lejeune moves to Alaves on a permanent deal , date = 22 July 2021 , access-date = 27 July 2021 , language = en The transfer fee was priced at €1 million and Lejeune took his medical and signed his contract following the conclusion of his participation in the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FIFA ...

. He was placed onto the club's second team. After appearing in seven matches with the B team, Lejeune made his senior team debut on 6 November 2011 appearing as a substitute in a 0–0 draw with

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

. In January 2013, he was loaned to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

Stade Brestois 29 Stade Brestois 29 or simply Brest, is a French football club based in Brest. It was founded in 1950 following the merger of five local patronages, including Armoricaine de Brest, founded in 1903. In its early years, the club made a rapid rise ...

. It was announced in July 2013 that Lejeune would be loaned out to the newly relegated club for another year.

Girona

After his loan with Brest ended, Lejeune signed a two-year deal with

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

also in the second level. He was an undisputed first-choice for the Catalans, scoring his first goal on 8 February 2015, in a 1–0 win at CD Tenerife. Lejeune finished the campaign with 40 appearances and five goals, as his side narrowly missed out promotion in the play-offs.

Manchester City

On 28 August 2015 Lejeune was transferred to

, being immediately loaned back to Girona for one year.

Eibar

On 29 June 2016, Lejeune signed a four-year deal with

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

Newcastle United

On 4 July 2017, Lejeune joined Newcastle United on a five-year contract.{{citation needed, date=April 2019 In April 2019, he was ruled out of the rest of the 2018–19 season with a knee injury. Lejeune scored both of his first two goals for Newcastle in injury time of a 2–2 draw with Everton on 21 January 2020.

Alavés

On 11 September 2020, Lejeune signed for

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

on a one-year loan deal. In July of the following year, he completed a permanent move to the club for an undisclosed fee. {{Cite web , date=22 July 2021 , title=Newcastle's Lejeune moves to Alaves , url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/57933386 , access-date=27 July 2021 , website=BBC Sport , language=en-GB

Rayo Vallecano

On 29 July 2022, Lejeune joined Rayo Vallecano on a season-long loan. Roughly one year later, Rayo announced his permanent signing on a four-year deal, for a reported fee of €2.5 million.{{Cite web , date=2023-07-28 , title=Oficial: Lejeune firma con el Rayo hasta 2027 , trans-title=Official: Lejeune signs with Rayo until 2027 , url=https://as.com/futbol/oficial-lejeune-firma-con-el-rayo-hasta-2027-n/ , access-date=2023-07-31 , website=Diario AS , language=es

Career statistics

{{updated, match played 24 May 2023, {{soccerway, florian-lejeune/112529, accessdate=13 October 2017 {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition , - !rowspan="2", Club !rowspan="2", Season !colspan="3", League !colspan="2", National cup !colspan="2", League cup !colspan="2", Other !colspan="2", Total , - !Division !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals , - ,

Agde Agde (; ) is a commune in the Hérault department in Southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi. Location Agde is located on the Hérault river, from the Mediterranean Sea, and from Paris. The Canal du Midi con ...

, 2008–09 , CFA , 3, , 2, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 3, , 2 , - , rowspan="3", Istres , 2009–10 ,

, 14, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 14, , 0 , - ,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, Ligue 2 , 28, , 3, , 0, , 0, , 1, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 29, , 3 , - !colspan="2", Total !42!!3!!0!!0!!1!!0!!0!!0!!43!!3 , - , rowspan="3", Villarreal , 2011–12 ,

, 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 2, , 0 , - ,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, 3, , 0, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 3, , 0 , - !colspan="2", Total !5!!0!!0!!0!!colspan="2", —!!0!!0!!5!!0 , - , rowspan="3", Villarreal B , 2011–12 , Segunda División , 27, , 2, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 27, , 2 , - ,

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

, 9, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 9, , 0 , - !colspan="2", Total !36!!2!!0!!0!!0 !0!!0!!0!!36!!2 , - , rowspan="3",

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

, 10, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 11, , 0 , - , 2013–14 , Ligue 2 , 11, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 1, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 14, , 0 , - !colspan="2", Total !21!!0!!3!!0!!1!!0!!0 !0!!25!!0 , - , rowspan="3",

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

, 2014–15 , Segunda División , 38, , 4, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 2{{efn, Appearances in the

2015 Segunda División play-offs The 2015 Segunda División play-offs took place in June 2015 and has determined the third team which will be promoted to the top division. Teams placed between 3rd and 6th position (excluding reserve teams) are taking part in the promotion play- ...

, , 1, , 40, , 5 , - , 2015–16 , Segunda División , 38, , 3, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 3{{efn, Appearances in the

2016 Segunda División play-offs The 2016 Segunda División play-offs will take place in June 2016 and will determine the third team which will be promoted to the top division. Teams placed between 3rd and 6th position (excluding reserve teams) will take part in the promotion pl ...

, , 0, , 41, , 3 , - !colspan="2", Total !76!!7!!0!!0!!0 !0!!5!!1!!81!!8 , - , Eibar , 2016–17 , La Liga , 34, , 1, , 3, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 37, , 1 , - , rowspan="4",

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, 2017–18 ,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, 24, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 24, , 0 , - , 2018–19 , Premier League , 12, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 13, , 0 , - , 2019–20 , Premier League , 6, , 2, , 3, , 0, , 0, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , 9, , 2 , - !colspan="2", Total !42!!2!!4!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!46!!2 , - , rowspan="3", Alavés ,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, La Liga , 34, , 1, , 2, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 36, , 1 , - , 2021–22 , La Liga , 30, , 0, , 1, , 0, , colspan="2", —, , colspan="2", —, , 31, , 0 , - !colspan="2", Total !64!!1!!3!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!67!!1 , - , Rayo Vallecano (loan) ,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, La Liga , 31 , 4 , 1 , 0 , colspan="2" , — , colspan="2" , — , 32 , 4 , - ! colspan="3" , Career total !354!!22!!14!!0!!2!!0!!5!!1!!375!!23 {{notelist

References

{{reflist

External links

{{commons category * {{FFF player, 9330-lejeune-florian *{{FIFA player *{{BDFutbol *{{LFP *{{Lequipe *{{Soccerbase *{{Soccerway {{Rayo Vallecano squad {{DEFAULTSORT:Lejeune, Florian 1991 births Living people Footballers from Paris French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Men's association football central defenders RCO Agde players FC Istres players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players Stade Brestois 29 players Girona FC players Manchester City F.C. players SD Eibar footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Deportivo Alavés players Rayo Vallecano players Championnat National players Ligue 2 players Segunda División players La Liga players Segunda División B players Ligue 1 players Premier League players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Spain