Ludovic Ajorque (born 25 February 1994) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

. Developed at Angers, where he made only one

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

appearance, he played for two years with Clermont in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

before a €1.5 million move to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

team

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

in 2018. He has played over 130 times for Strasbourg, scoring over 40 goals and winning the Coupe de la Ligue in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Club career

Early career

Ajorque began his career at AS Excelsior on his native island before moving to Angers SCO, where he played mainly for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in the fifth tier. His sole game for Angers was on 12 August 2014 in the first round of the

, playing the first 57 minutes of a 2–1 home win over

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

. In July 2016, following a season on loan at

Luçon Luçon () is a commune in the Vendée department, Pays de la Loire region, western France. Its inhabitants are known as Luçonnais. Luçon Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Luçon (comprising the Vendée), where Cardinal Richelieu once se ...

in the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

, Ajorque transferred to

club Clermont on a three-year deal. After 14 goals in 37 games in 2017–18, he signed a four-year deal at

. The transfer fee was €1.5 million.

Strasbourg

Ajorque made his top-flight debut on 12 August 2018, starting as the season began with a 2–0 win at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, and scored the first of his nine goals on 1 September to open a 3–2 home loss to

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. The following 19 January, he scored twice in a 5–1 win at

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, and added another brace on 9 March as the team came from behind to draw with

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

at the

Stade de la Meinau The Stade de la Meinau (), commonly known as "La Meinau", is a football (soccer), football stadium in Strasbourg, France. It is the home ground of Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace, RC Strasbourg and has also hosted international matches, includin ...

. In the

2018–19 Coupe de la Ligue The 2018–19 Coupe de la Ligue was the 25th year for the league cup competition held in France. Forty-four clubs participated in the competition. Strasbourg won their fourth Coupe de la Ligue title (their first in fourteen years) following a 4– ...

, Ajorque played four games and scored twice as the Alsatians won the trophy for the first time in 14 years. His

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

opened a 2–1 win at Lyon in the quarter-finals on 8 January, and he equalised in a 3–2 home win over Bordeaux three weeks later. With this result, the team entered the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, where he scored in each leg of a 4–3 aggregate win over Maccabi Haifa. In June 2020, Ajorque extended his contract until 2024. In the ensuing season, in which his team finished two points above the relegation play-offs, he scored 16 goals in 35 games; this put him joint fourth behind

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is renowned for his dribb ...

, Wissam Ben Yedder and Memphis Depay. In 2021–22, his 12 goals put him in 10th. On 7 November, he was sent off for the first time in his career for a foul on Fábio in a 2–2 draw at

Mainz 05

On 24 January 2023, Ajorque signed for

club

for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-and-a-half year contract.

Honours

Strasbourg *

: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajorque, Ludovic 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Saint-Denis, Réunion Footballers from Réunion Association football forwards French footballers French sportspeople of Malagasy descent Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 3 players Angers SCO players Vendée Poiré-sur-Vie Football players Luçon FC players Clermont Foot players RC Strasbourg Alsace players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Germany