| Jens Cajuste | |
| Fullname: | Jens-Lys Michel Cajuste |
| Birth Date: | 10 August 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Height: | 1.88 m |
| Position: | Central midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Ipswich Town (on loan from Napoli) |
| Youthyears1: | 2006–2008 |
| Youthclubs1: | Sports Beijing[1] |
| Youthyears2: | 2008–2009 |
| Youthclubs2: | Yu Ye Beijing |
| Youthyears3: | 2009–2010 |
| Youthclubs3: | Guldhedens IK |
| Youthyears4: | 2010–2016 |
| Youthclubs4: | Örgryte IS |
| Years1: | 2016–2018 |
| Clubs1: | Örgryte IS |
| Caps1: | 14 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2018–2022 |
| Clubs2: | Midtjylland |
| Caps2: | 58 |
| Goals2: | 2 |
| Years3: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs3: | Reims |
| Caps3: | 39 |
| Goals3: | 5 |
| Years4: | 2023– |
| Clubs4: | Napoli |
| Caps4: | 26 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2024– |
| Clubs5: | → Ipswich Town (loan) |
| Caps5: | 0 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2019 |
| Nationalteam1: | Sweden U21 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2020– |
| Nationalteam2: | Sweden |
| Nationalcaps2: | 23 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23:35, 26 May 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 23:13, 8 June 2024 (UTC) |
Jens-Lys Michel Cajuste (born 10 August 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Ipswich Town, on loan from Serie A club Napoli, and the Sweden national team.[2]
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 his 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]
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]
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]
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]
On 19 August 2024, Cajuste joined newly-promoted Premier League club Ipswich Town on loan for the 2024–25 season.[18]
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.[19] He made his international debut in a 2–0 loss against Denmark on 12 November 2020.[20]
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.[21]
| Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | 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 | 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21 | Danish Superliga | 27 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | |||
| 2021–22 | Danish Superliga | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 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 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 2024–25 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 137 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 174 | 8 | |||
| Sweden | 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 23 | 0 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Midtjylland