 Lejeune in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Florian Grégoire Claude Lejeune[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-05-20)20 May 1991 (age 34)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Paris, France | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rayo Vallecano | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1998 | CFF Paris | ||
| 1998–2000 | Ternes Paris | ||
| 2000–2005 | Racing Levallois | ||
| 2005–2006 | Béziers Cheminots | ||
| 2006–2008 | Sète | ||
| 2008–2009 | Agde | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2009 | Agde | 3 | (2) |
| 2009–2011 | Istres | 42 | (3) |
| 2011–2014 | Villarreal B | 36 | (2) |
| 2011–2014 | Villarreal | 19 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | →Brest (loan) | 21 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Girona | 38 | (4) |
| 2015–2016 | Manchester City | 0 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | →Girona (loan) | 38 | (3) |
| 2016–2017 | Eibar | 34 | (1) |
| 2017–2021 | Newcastle United | 42 | (2) |
| 2020–2021 | →Alavés (loan) | 34 | (1) |
| 2021–2023 | Alavés | 30 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | →Rayo Vallecano (loan) | 31 | (4) |
| 2023– | Rayo Vallecano | 75 | (5) |
| International career | |||
| 2010–2011 | France U20 | 7 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 August 2025 | |||
Florian Grégoire Claude Lejeune (born 20 May 1991) is a French professionalfootballer who plays as acentre-back for SpanishLa Liga clubRayo Vallecano.
Lejeune was born inParis 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.[3][4] After four months at the academy, he departed for Racing Club des Ternes, a local sporting club based in the8th arrondissement of Paris.[3] Lejeune spent two years at the club and, in 2000, was signed byRacing Club de France.[3] 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, asports club more known for itsathletics department. With Béziers, Lejeune played in theChampionnat de France 14 ans Fédéraux league.
After one year at Béziers, Lejeune joined the youth academy ofSète. After two years with the club, he signed an amateur contract withAdge, which was playing in theChampionnat de France amateur, the fourth level ofFrench football.[5] Lejeune spent the majority of the2008–09 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 toGazélec Ajaccio.[6] On 23 May, he made his first start in a 3–2 victory overGap.[7] The following week, Lejeune scored both goals for Agde in a 2–2 draw withFréjus Saint-Raphaël.[8]
In the summer of 2009, Lejeune joinedLigue 2 clubIstres on trial. After impressing in twofriendly matches, he was signed to a three-year professional contract and inserted onto the club's reserve team.[5] Lejeune arrived at the club playing primarily in thedefensive midfielder role, but ultimately switched to the centre back position.[3] 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 againstGuingamp in a 0–0 draw with the player playing the entire match.[9] Lejuene finished the campaign with 14 more appearances in the league playing the entire match in all of them.
Lejeune began the2010–11 season as a starter and made his season debut in a 4–0 defeat toAjaccio in theCoupe de la Ligue.[10] In September, he was a surprise inclusion in theFrance under-20 team.[11] 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 newspaperL'Equipe announced that Spanish clubReal Madrid was monitoring Lejeune's progress.[12] He was, subsequently, linked to a host of other clubs, notably English clubsManchester United,Manchester City, andArsenal and Italian clubsNapoli andUdinese with all the clubs reportedly likening him to formerFrench internationalLaurent Blanc.[13][14][15] However, despite the speculation, club president Francis Collado declared that he had not had official contact with any club linked to the player.[15]
On 7 July 2011, French newspaperL'Equipe confirmed that Lejeune had reached an agreement with Spanish clubVillarreal to sign a four-year contract.[16] The transfer fee was priced at €1 million and Lejeune took his medical and signed his contract following the conclusion of his participation in the2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[16][17] He was placed onto the club'ssecond 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 withEspanyol.[18] In January 2013, he was loaned toLigue 1 sideStade Brestois 29. It was announced in July 2013 that Lejeune would be loaned out to the newly relegated club for another year.[19]
After his loan with Brest ended, Lejeune signed a two-year deal withGirona FC also in the second level.[20] He was an undisputed first-choice for theCatalans, scoring his first goal on 8 February 2015, in a 1–0 win atCD Tenerife.
Lejeune finishedthe campaign with 40 appearances and five goals, as his side narrowly missed out promotion inthe play-offs.
On 28 August 2015 Lejeune was transferred toManchester City, being immediately loaned back to Girona for one year.[21]
On 29 June 2016, Lejeune signed a four-year deal withSD Eibar.[22]
On 4 July 2017, Lejeune joined Newcastle United on a five-year contract.[citation needed] In April 2019, he was ruled out of the rest of the 2018–19 season with a knee injury.[23] Lejeune scored both of his first two goals for Newcastle in injury time of a 2–2 draw withEverton on 21 January 2020.[24]
On 11 September 2020, Lejeune signed forDeportivo Alavés on a one-year loan deal.[25] In July of the following year, he completed a permanent move to the club for an undisclosed fee.[26]
On 29 July 2022, Lejeune joinedRayo Vallecano on a season-long loan.[27] Roughly one year later, Rayo announced his permanent signing on a four-year deal,[28] for a reported fee of €2.5 million.[29]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Agde | 2008–09 | CFA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 2 | ||
| Istres | 2009–10 | Ligue 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | Ligue 2 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 3 | ||
| Total | 42 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 3 | ||
| Villarreal | 2011–12 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Segunda División | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Villarreal B | 2011–12 | Segunda División | 27 | 2 | — | — | — | 27 | 2 | |||
| 2012–13 | Segunda División B | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2 | ||
| Brest | 2012–13 | Ligue 1 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | Ligue 2 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| Total | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Girona | 2014–15 | Segunda División | 38 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 1 | 40 | 5 | |
| 2015–16 | Segunda División | 38 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[b] | 0 | 41 | 3 | ||
| Total | 76 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 81 | 8 | ||
| Eibar | 2016–17 | La Liga | 34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 1 | ||
| Newcastle United | 2017–18 | Premier League | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 24 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 2 | ||
| Total | 42 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 2 | ||
| Alavés | 2020–21 | La Liga | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2021–22 | La Liga | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 0 | |||
| Total | 64 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 1 | ||
| Rayo Vallecano (loan) | 2022–23 | La Liga | 31 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 4 | ||
| Rayo Vallecano | 2023–24 | La Liga | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 3 | ||
| 2024–25 | La Liga | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 2 | |||
| 2025–26 | La Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 106 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 429 | 27 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 452 | 28 | ||
