Lyon announced on Friday the transfer of its French international central defender, Castello Lukeba, to the German club RB Leipzig for 34 million euros including bonuses, to which may be added a 20% interest on the capital gain of a possible future transfer.
International hopes (12 caps), holder during the four matches of the Bleuets at the Euro hopes, the player (20 years old), trained at the Rhone club, arrived in 2011 at OL at the age of 8 years. He signed his first professional contract in July 2021 for a period of three years before starting as a professional in August of the same year against Brest at Groupama stadium.
Lukeba turned down a proposed three-year contract extension and recalled his wish to leave his parent club, where he arrived in 2011 aged 8, to join RB Leipzig. “Given the position of the player who was no longer concerned by the club’s sporting project, Olympique Lyonnais took note of this decision and ended up agreeing to open negotiations with the 3rd of the last German championship”, details a press release from OL.
“I absolutely wanted to go to the Bundesliga and RB Leipzig. I’m very glad it worked. The training center, the stadium, the city and above all the team with young players, everything makes you want to play football here”, praised the French defender, quoted in the press release from RB Leipzig.
“With Castello, we got the player we wanted for our central defense. He is left-handed and can play on the left side of a three-man central defense or a four-man defense,” said Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl.
The Rhone club has therefore weakened with this departure which can also cause a breath of fresh air on the situation of young striker Bradley Barcola (20 years old), coveted in particular by Paris Saint-Germain.
