Jefferson Lerma

Jefferson Andrés Lerma Solís (born 25 October 1994) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Crystal Palace and the Colombia national team.

Although Lerma's goal secured an important victory, Huila failed to qualify for the Apertura's final phase after they lost away at Santa Fe and tied at home with Uniautónoma in their remaining matches, thus resulting in a 12th place finish.

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.

On 17 April, Lerma provided the assist for Huila's third goal against Independiente Medellín which allowed his team to win 3–2.

On the final match day, Lerma made his second direct contribution of the season, distributing an assist in a 1–1 home draw against Santa Fe.

Lerma appeared in 20 matches during his first professional season, as his side finished 13th in the Apertura.

For the 2013 Clausura, Lerma's side avoided a relegation play-off, finishing in 14th place with two points more than Cúcuta Deportivo who were relegated after losing their play-off series against second division side Fortaleza.

He scored his first professional goals on 6 February 2014, scoring a brace in a 3–1 home success over newly promoted Fortaleza, the first of which was the club's 1,000th.

Lerma netted his third goal of the season on 10 April in a 2–0 home win over Once Caldas.

Lerma suffered the first red card of his career on 2 August 2014, after receiving a second booking in the 45th minute during a Clausura match against Fortaleza.

On October 20, Lerma scored a vital goal in a 3–0 win against Deportivo Pasto.

Huila ultimately qualified to the 2014 Clausura's final phase, and eventually fell short from disputing the final despite having the same amount of points as group counter-part Santa Fe, who would go on to dispute and win the final against Independiente Medellín.

Lerma would maintain his consistency during the 2015 Apertura, guiding Huila to a surprising first place finish in the league table, thus qualifying for the Apertura's quarter-finals against Deportes Tolima.

However, Huila was knocked-out by Tolima with Lerma missing out on both games due to injury.

Overall, that season Lerma would establish himself as key integrant for Atlético Huila, which attracted the interest of European clubs such as Spanish side Levante.

Despite rumours of a potential loan to Spain, Lerma was included in Huila's squad for the initial part of 2015 Clausura.

On 8 August, he scored a goal during his last game for Huila from free-kick in a 2–1 away defeat to Deportes Tolima.

Lerma incorporated himself quickly to Levante's team dynamics, and 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.

A youth product of Atlético Huila, Lerma played for three years in Colombia before joining Spanish side Levante on loan in 2016.

That same year, Levante bought Lerma outright on a four-year contract.

Lerma first played with Colombia's Olympic team, representing them at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

He made his international debut for Colombia the following year in a friendly against South Korea.

While disputing the 2016 Summer Olympics with Colombia on August 13, Lerma agreed to a one-year loan contract with La Liga club Levante.

He made his debut later that month, replacing Nabil Ghilas in a 0–0 away draw to Las Palmas.

He provided an assist to Deyverson on 25 February, 2016, which helped Levante win their home duel against Las Palmas 3–2.

After appearing in 25 matches for the club, he signed a four-year contract effective 1 July 2016 for a €600,000 transfer fee.

He provided a further assist during his debut season for Levante in a match against Athletic Bilbao on 24 April, which ended 2–2.

On 2 May, Lerma and his team suffered relegation to the second division after a defeat to Málaga CF which left Levante with no mathematical possibility of avoiding relegation.

Overall, Lerma finished the season with 34 appearances, one goal, and two assists across all competitions.

Lerma made his Segunda División debut on 4 September 2016, coming off the bench in a 1–1 away draw against Gimnàstic.

On 2 October, he received a double-booking during Levante's 3–2 victory over Real Valladolid.

On 15 October, Lerma guided Levante to an important victory against Mallorca, where he scored Levante's second goal in a 2–1 triumph.

He provided the assist for Roger Martí's ninth goal of the season during Levante's 0–3 away victory against CD Mirandés.

On 11 January 2017, Lerma scored his first goal of the year, Levante's second in a 0–2 away win against UCAM Murcia CF.

In early April, a torn muscle injury would rule Lerma out for six league games.

On 13 May, he made his return as a starter during Levante's 2–1 home win over Girona.

In 2018, Lerma was signed by Premier League side AFC Bournemouth for a club record fee of €30 million.

He spent five years at the club before departing for Crystal Palace on a free transfer in 2023.

He was part of the Colombia squad that participated at the 2018 World Cup, and represented his nation at the 2019 edition of the Copa América.

Born in El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca, Lerma relocated to Neiva, Huila and graduated with Atlético Huila's youth setup.