Jaka Bijol

Jaka Bijol is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Leeds United and the Slovenia national team. Initially a defensive midfielder, he switched to his current position in the 2021–22 season.

Club career

On 22 June 2018, CSKA Moscow announced the signing of Bijol on a five-year contract from Rudar Velenje. On 18 September 2020, Bijol was loaned out to Hannover 96 for one year.
On 14 July 2022, Bijol was signed by Serie A club Udinese on a five-year contract for a reported transfer fee of over €4 million. In November 2023, he suffered a foot injury and was sidelined for over two months.
After three years with Udinese, for whom he made 90 league appearances and scored 4 goals, Bijol transferred to Premier League outfit Leeds United in June 2025, signing a five-year contract with The Whites. The transfer fee was reported at approximately €21 million, making him the second most expensive Slovenian footballer of all time, behind only Benjamin Šeško.

On 13 October 2018, Bijol debuted with the Slovenia senior team in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League match against Norway, which Slovenia lost 1–0. He scored his first goal in a friendly match against Croatia on 26 March 2022, scoring a stoppage-time goal to secure a 1–1 draw.
Bijol represented Slovenia at UEFA Euro 2024, where he was selected by football statistics portal WhoScored in the best eleven of the tournament.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1		Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar		1–1	1–1	Friendly

CSKA Moscow