Jens Cajuste
Cajuste warming up for Reims in 2023
Personal information
Full name Jens-Lys Michel Cajuste
Date of birth (1999-08-10) 10 August 1999 (age 24)
Place of birth Gothenburg, Sweden
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Napoli
Number 24
Youth career
2006–2008 Sports Beijing[1]
2008–2009 Yu Ye Beijing[1]
2009–2010 Guldhedens IK[1]
2010–2016 Örgryte IS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Örgryte IS 14 (0)
2018–2022 Midtjylland 58 (2)
2022–2023 Reims 39 (5)
2023– Napoli 17 (0)
International career‡
2019 Sweden U21 3 (0)
2020– Sweden 20 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:55, 4 February 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:51, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Jens-Lys Michel Cajuste (born 10 August 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Napoli and the Sweden national team.[2]

Club career

Early career

Cajuste was born in Sweden to a Haitian-American father and a Swedish mother. He moved to China with his family at age five, living one year in Luoyang before moving to Beijing.[3] There, he began football career with Chinese Sports Beijing. A few years later, the family returned to Sweden. As a ten-year-old, Cajuste started playing for Örgryte IS.[4] After impressing in the club's youth teams, he was rewarded with a senior contract in 2016.[5] On 17 October 2016, Cajuste made his senior debut for Örgryte in the Superettan in a 4–1 loss to IK Sirius.[6]

Midtjylland

In June 2018, Cajuste moved to Denmark’s Midtjylland, where he signed a five-year contract.[7] He made his debut for the club on 26 August 2018 in a match against Randers.[8] His first goal also came against Randers, which also proved to be the winner, in a 2–1 league victory on 21 October 2019.[9]

On 21 October 2020, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a group stage home game against Atalanta, which Midtjylland lost 4–0.[10]

Reims

On 10 January 2022, Cajuste signed for French club Reims in a transfer deal worth a reported €10 million.[11] He became the club's record signing.[12] A few days later, Reims director-general Mathieu Lacour disputed the reported fee, stating that the price was around half of what Midtjylland had announced.[13][14]

Cajuste made his debut for Reims in a Ligue 1 match against Metz on 16 January 2022, starting in central midfield before being substituted off for Alexis Flips at half-time, as Reims lost 1–0.[15]

Napoli

On 10 August 2023, Cajuste joined Serie A club Napoli,[16] by signing a five-year contract for a reported fee of €12 million.[17]

International career

On 4 November 2020, Cajuste was called up to the Sweden national team for their friendly game against Denmark and UEFA Nations League games against Croatia and France.[18] He made his international debut in a 2–0 loss against Denmark on 12 November 2020.[19]

Cajuste was called up for a major tournament for the first time when he was included in Sweden's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020.[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 22 January 2024[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Örgryte IS 2016 Superettan 3 0 — — — 3 0
2017 Superettan 3 0 2 0 — 2[a] 0 7 0
2018 Superettan 8 0 — — — 8 0
Total 14 0 2 0 — 2 0 18 0
Midtjylland 2018–19 Danish Superliga 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
2019–20 Danish Superliga 24 1 1 0 2[b] 0 0 0 27 1
2020–21 Danish Superliga 27 1 4 0 8[c] 0 0 0 39 1
2021–22 Danish Superliga 5 0 1 0 4[b] 0 0 0 10 0
Total 58 2 7 0 14 0 0 0 79 2
Reims 2021–22 Ligue 1 8 2 1 0 — — 9 2
2022–23 Ligue 1 31 3 2 1 — — 33 4
Total 39 5 3 1 — — 42 6
Napoli 2023–24 Serie A 16 0 1 0 5[c] 0 2[d] 0 24 0
Career total 127 7 13 1 19 0 4 0 163 8
  1. ^ Appearances in Superettan relegation play-offs
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. ^ Appearances in Supercoppa Italiana

International

As of match played 19 November 2023[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2020 2 0
2021 7 0
2022 5 0
2023 6 0
Total 20 0

Honours

Midtjylland

References

  1. ^ a b c Forsberg, Aron (29 September 2018). "Fostrad i Kina – nu rycker USA:s landslag i svenske talangen: "Hade varit en stor ära"". fotbollskanalen.se. Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. ^ "J. Cajuste". Soccerway.
  3. ^ Just Kristensen, Jørn (28 September 2018). "Svensk-amerikansk FCM-talent fik kinesisk karrierestart". herningfolkeblad.dk. Herning Folkeblad. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Jens Cajuste klar för FC Midtjylland". Örgryte IS.
  5. ^ "SvenskaFans". www.svenskafans.com (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Sweden – R. Andernil-Bozic – Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Fotbolltransfers.com - Officiellt: Jens Cajuste klar för FC Midtjylland". fotbolltransfers.com.
  8. ^ "Midtjylland vs. Randers – 26 August 2018 – Soccerway". us.soccerway.com.
  9. ^ "Midtjylland vs. Randers – 21 October 2019 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  10. ^ TT (2 November 2020). "Cajuste om succén: Alltid trott på mig själv". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  11. ^ Risom, Jens (10 January 2022). "Jens-Lys Cajuste solgt til Stade de Reims" [Jean-Lys Cajuste sold to Stade de Reims] (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Official | Reims conclude record the signing of Jens Cajuste". Get French Football News. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  13. ^ Hémard, Adrien (14 January 2022). "Le directeur général de Reims condamné dans l'affaire Ngamukol". SOFOOT.com (in French). They are very surprised, as we too were to discover this sum in the newspapers, which is absolutely false." ... "We are on the levels of Rajković (5 million euros in 2019). We are not intended to make these types of double-digit transfers, even if there are some bonuses and a capital gain on resale.
  14. ^ Porse, Kristian (17 January 2022). "Reims-chef: Rygter om Cajuste-pris er falske". bold.dk (in Danish).
  15. ^ "Reims vs. Metz – 16 January 2022 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Napoli complete permanent signing of Jens Cajuste". S.S.C. Napoli. 10 August 2023.
  17. ^ "Official: Napoli sign Cajuste from Stade de Reims". Football Italia. 10 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Jens Cajuste överraskningen i Janne Anderssons trupp". SVT Sport (in Swedish). 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  19. ^ "Cajuste efter debuten: "Har mycket mer att erbjuda"". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Sweden Euro 2020 squad: Full team profile". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Jens Cajuste". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  22. ^ "Jens-Lys Michel Cajute". Svensk Fotboll.

External links

SSC Napoli – current squad
Sweden squad – UEFA Euro 2020
Categories