Youth career Born in the small village of
Hnahthial,
Mizoram, Jeje was born in a football-fanatic family. His father and elder brother played for a local club, while his uncle represented Mizoram in the
Santosh Trophy. Four months after his father had retired, Jeje made his debut for his club. Despite initial hesitation from his parents in pursuing football professionally, on account of his strong performance at the state-organised Wai Wai Cup, Jeje made it to the Mizoram U-19 team. He impressed his coaches at the U-19 selection camp in
Gwalior and was selected for the national U-19 qualifiers.
Pune Jeje's talent caught the attention of
Pune FC, who signed him up when he was 16. Initially playing in their youth setup, Jeje would make his senior debut for
Pune, who were then in the
I-League 2nd Division, during the
2009 I-League 2nd Division season. The then 18-year old, scored against
Sporting Goa on 17 October 2009 in a 2-2 draw, during the
2009–10 I-League season. He scored again in the
same season against
Chirag United in a 1-1 draw.
2010-11 season: Pailan Arrows (loan) training in 2011. On 1 July 2010, Jeje signed for
I-League newcomers
Pailan Arrows on a one-year loan basis from parent club
Pune for the
2010-11 I-League season. The
Pailan Arrows team was only made up of Indian under-19 players. During the
2010 Indian Federation Cup, he scored 1 goal for
Pailan Arrows in the two games he played. On 3 December 2010, Jeje took part in
Pailan Arrows first
I-League game, against
Chirag United, in a 2-1 loss. On 8 December 2010, Lalpekhlua scored his first ever goal for
Pailan Arrows against
ONGC FC in a 1-1 draw. After that, Jeje went on a huge goal-scoring run and earned a lot of praise by many top
AIFF personnel. On 13 March 2011, Jeje scored 4 goals against
Air India in an
I-League match which ended in a 5–2 win. He again scored 4 goals against
Mohun Bagan in a thrilling 5-4 win, on 29 May which also was his last match for the club. He finished his stellar season with 13 goals in 15 appearances, also becoming the top-scoring Indian player of the
season. On 26 September 2011, he won the FPAI Best Young Player Award for the 2010–11 season, beating out players like
Raju Gaikwad and
Lenny Rodrigues.
2011-12 season: Back to Pune On 7 July 2011, it was announced that Lalpekhlua was to return to his parent club
Pune for the
2011-12 I-League season. Lalpekhlua made his first start and his first overall game for
Pune since his return from
Pailan Arrows, on 17 September 2011 during the
Federation Cup group stage match against
Dempo in a 2-1 win. Jeje then scored his second goal in the
Federation Cup on 19 September 2011 against
East Bengal at the
Salt Lake Stadium in a 2-1 loss. Jeje started the
2011–12 I-League season as a regular starter for
Pune. In the second game of the
season he scored his first goal in the 78th minute to make the score a 1–2 against
Sporting Goa, which ended 2–2 on 28 October 2011. Jeje continued his scoring form in the next match as he scored against
Chirag United in what was Pune's first win of the
season in a 3–1 win on 1 November 2011. He then scored another goal in the I-League against
Dempo in the 26th minute on 19 November 2011. Despite the goal, Pune still lost the match 3–1. On 3 January 2012, Jeje came on as a substitute and scored in the 36th minute against
Mohun Bagan in a 2-1 win, which also was his last goal of the
season. He finished the
season with 5 goals.
2012-13 season Jeje scored his first goal of the season in the 51st minute, against now dissolved
United Sikkim in the
2012 Indian Federation Cup in a 1-0 win, on 20 September 2012. Jeje then scored in the club's first game of the
2012-13 I-League season on 8 October 2012, in a 3-2 win against
ONGC when he converted from the spot kick. He again scored 3 days after, against
Mumbai in another 3-2 win. He made his final appearance for the club against
Air India on 28 April 2012. He finished the
I-League season with 5 goals in 19 appearances.
Dempo On 15 June 2013, Jeje signed for
Dempo on a two-year contract. Jeje made his debut for the Goan side during the
2013-14 I-League season, on 22 September 2013 against
Shillong Lajong, in which he came on as a substitute for
Mandar Rao Dessai in the 55th minute, as
Dempo lost the match 3-0. He scored his first goal of the club, a week later, against
Mumbai in a 1-1 draw. He scored his 5th and final goal for the club against his former club
Pune, on 28 April 2014 in a 3-0 win.
Mohun Bagan On 28 May 2014, it was announced that Jeje would sign a one-year deal with
Mohun Bagan. On 11 August 2014, Jeje scored in his debut, in the 41st minute by earning and converting a penalty, in what proved to be the only goal in a 1–0 win in a match against
Tollygunge Agragami in the
Calcutta Football League. On 11 August 2014, Jeje scored in his debut, in the 41st minute by earning and converting a penalty, in what proved to be the only goal in a 1–0 win in a match against
Tollygunge Agragami in the
Calcutta Football League.
Chennaiyin (loan) In 1 September 2014, Jeje was loaned out to
Chennaiyin for the inaugural
2014 ISL season by
Mohun Bagan. On 15 October 2014, Jeje made his debut for the club against
Goa, coming on as a substitute for
Balwant Singh in the 80th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on 28 October 2014, against
Mumbai City in the 26th minute in a thumping 5-1 win. On 16 December 2014, Jeje scored a crucial goal for
Chennaiyin against
Kerala Blasters in the 2nd leg of the
2014 Indian Super League playoffs semi-final, which took the game to extra time. Chennaiyin won the game by 3-1, but failed to qualify for the finals on aggregate. He finished the
season with 4 goals in 13 appearances, which also made him the India top-scorer of the season.
Return to Mohun Bagan On 31 December 2014, Jeje returned to his parent club
Mohun Bagan after his loan spell with
Chennaiyin for the
2014–15 I-League season. On 28 January 2015, he made his
I-League debut for
Mohun Bagan against
Salgaocar, coming on a substitute for
Balwant Singh in the 76th minute in a 0-0 draw. He scored his only goal of the
2014-15 I-League season against his former club
Pune on 25 April 2015 in a 2-0 win.
Chennaiyin Jeje was retained by
Chennaiyin for the
2015 Indian Super League. He scored his first goal of the
season in the opening match on 3 October 2015, against defending champions
ATK in a 3–2 loss. He scored his first career
ISL brace against then ISL club
Delhi Dynamos on 24 November 2015 in a 4-0 thrashing. He also scored in the 1st leg of the semi-final playoffs against
ATK on 12 December 2015 in a 3–0 win. He played in the
2015 Indian Super League final on 20 December 2015, winning the
2015 ISL title for the first time. He finished the
season with 6 goals and 3 assists in 11 appearances. He was also chosen as the Emerging Player of the Season. Jeje scored 9 goals from 20 appearances in the
2017–18 Indian Super League including twice in the
playoffs semil-final against
Goa. Chennai won their second ISL title with a 3–2 win over
Bengaluru in the
final and Jeje become the first Indian season top-scorer of the club.
2018–19 Indian Super League saw a drop in Jeje's form as he only managed to score a single goal in 16 appearances while Chennai finished the season bottom of the table. Jeje missed whole
2018–19 season due to a major knee injury. On 8 September 2020, Jeje announced his exit from the club after six years of association.
Mohun Bagan (loan) On 8 January 2016, Jeje was loaned to
Mohun Bagan by parent club Chennaiyin for the
2015-16 I-League campaign. On his return, he scored his first goal against
Tampines Rovers in the preliminary round of the qualifying stage for the
2016 AFC Champions League group stage, which ended in a 3-1 win. He then scored his first league goal of the
season on 13 February 2016, against eventual champions
Bengaluru in a 2–0 win. On 24 February 2016, Jeje scored a brace against
Maziya in the
2016 AFC Cup group stage match, in a 5-2 drubbing. He again scored a brace against
Yangon United in the
2016 AFC Cup group stage match, on 16 March 2016, in a thrilling 3-2 win. He finished the
2015-16 I-League season with 4 goals in 14 appearances, finishing runner-up to
Bengaluru in the process. He also had a productive
AFC Cup campaign, chipping in with 6 goals in 7 appearances. He started the
2015–16 Indian Federation Cup campaign by scoring a brace against
Salgaocar in the quarter-final 1st leg 3-2 win. He then scored a hat-trick against
Shillong Lajong in the semi-final 1st leg 5-0 drubbing, on 8 May 2016. On 21 May 2016, he capped off his exceptional season with
Mohun Bagan, by scoring in the
final against
Aizawl and winning his first
Federation Cup trophy. He was adjudged as the top goal-scorer of the
2015–16 Indian Federation Cup campaign with 8 strikes. He was named as the Best Indian Player by his fellow professionals for his stupendous 2016-17 season.
East Bengal On 18 October 2020, Jeje joined
East Bengal on a one-year deal ahead of the
2020–21 Indian Super League. He scored in a 6–5 loss against
Odisha. ==International career==