Jefferson Andrés Lerma Solís (born 25 October 1994) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and the Colombia national team. He has also been used as a defensive midfielder and as a right-back.

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Jefferson Lerma

Lerma with AFC Bournemouth in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Jefferson Andrés Lerma Solís[1]
Date of birth	(1994-10-25) 25 October 1994 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth	El Cerrito, Colombia
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team	AFC Bournemouth
Number	8
Youth career
	Atlético Huila
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2016	Atlético Huila	84	(6)
2015–2016	→ Levante (loan)	33	(1)
2016–2018	Levante	56	(2)
2018–	AFC Bournemouth	145	(8)
National team‡
2016	Colombia Olympic	5	(0)
2017–	Colombia	30	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 September 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 03:58, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Atlético Huila

Born in El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca, Lerma graduated with Atlético Huila's youth setup. After being promoted to the main squad in January 2013, he made his professional debut on 30 March, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Millonarios.[4]

Lerma appeared in 20 matches during his first professional season, as his side finished 13th. He scored his first professional goals on 6 February 2014, scored two goals in a 3–1 home success over Fortaleza, the first of which was the club's 1,000th.[5]

Levante

On 13 August 2015, Lerma moved abroad for the first time in his career, agreeing to a one-year loan contract with La Liga club Levante.[6] He made his debut later that month, replacing Nabil Ghilas in a 0–0 away draw to Las Palmas.[7][8]

Lerma scored his first goal in the main category of Spanish football on 7 December 2015, scoring the match's first goal in a 1–1 away draw with Espanyol. After appearing in 25 matches for the club, he signed a four-year contract effective 1 July 2016 for a €600,000 transfer fee.[9]

AFC Bournemouth

On 7 August 2018, Lerma joined Premier League club AFC Bournemouth for a club record transfer fee of €30 million.[10] On 1 September, he made his debut for Bournemouth playing 88 minutes in a 2–0 loss against Chelsea.[11] Lerma scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 defeat against Newcastle United on 10 November 2018.[12] He scored on the final day of his first season at the club in a 5–3 defeat away to Crystal Palace.[13] Lerma established himself as a fan favourite player, due to his tough-tackling, no-nonsense style of play, as well as an important part of the Bournemouth team during his first season in the Premier League; making a total of 32 appearances across all competitions and scoring two goals in the league.

On 29 February 2020, he scored his third goal for the club in a 2–2 home draw against Chelsea, meeting a Ryan Fraser corner with his head to make the score 1–1.[14] In December 2020, Lerma was charged with a biting offence relating to an act of violent conduct during a game against Sheffield Wednesday on 3 November 2020.[15]

On 6 August 2022, Lerma scored Bournemouth's first goal of the season during Premier League opening match-day as his team went on to defeat Aston Villa 2–0.[16] Consequently, Lerma's goal became the fastest scored by a newly promoted side at one minute and 56 seconds.[17]

International career

Lerma made his debut for Colombia on 10 November 2017, coming on late for Stefan Medina in a 1–2 defeat to South Korea.[18][19]

In June 2018, he was named to Colombia's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[20]

On 13 October 2020, Lerma scored his first goal in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification fixture over Chile, which ended 2–2.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 September 2022[22]

International

As of match played 29 March 2022[19]

Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Jefferson Lerma

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	13 October 2020	Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile	21	Chile	1–0	2–2	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	[21]

Honours

AFC Bournemouth

• Championship runner-up: 2021–22[23]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jefferson Lerma.

• Profile at the AFC Bournemouth website
• Jefferson Lerma at BDFutbol

На других языках

[de] Jefferson Lerma

[es] Jefferson Lerma

[fr] Jefferson Lerma

[it] Jefferson Lerma

[ru] Лерма, Джефферсон