Liverpool might be about to venture once more down a familiar transfer path in order to fill a long-standing niche in the first-team squad at Anfield.
Over the past couple of days, Fabrizio Romano indicated that FSG are set to prioritise the addition of a new centre-back in the summer, with meetings to that effect having already been held involving Richard Hughes, Arne Slot and the LFC board.
Liverpool have contacted agents of Castello Lukeba
According to Sacha Tavolieri for skysport.ch, Liverpool scouts have watched Castello Lukeba in action in recent months and have submitted positive reports on the RB Leipzig defender.
That interest hasn’t waned of late despite the 22-year-old being laid low by a hamstring injury over the winter, and ‘contacts have already been established’ between the Merseyside giants and the Frenchman’s representatives.
The Bundesliga outfit are adamant that they won’t part with the player unless his release clause of €90m (£74.6m) is met.
Lukeba could be ideal candidate to fill Liverpool squad niche
Liverpool have previous when it comes to signing a French centre-back from RB Leipzig (Ibrahima Konate in 2021), and they’ve also raided the German side for Naby Keita and Dominik Szoboszlai in recent years, while Jurgen Klopp’s new role with Red Bull could also strengthen the working between the two clubs.
If the Reds were to land Lukeba in the summer, it’d finally give them a natural centre-back who’s predominantly left-footed, something that they don’t currently have in Arne Slot’s squad.
Also, at just 22 but with more than 130 appearances to his name between Lyon and RB Leipzig, he strikes that ideal balance between boasting plenty of high-level experience while still having his peak footballing years ahead of him.
Unlike Konate, Lukeba isn’t especially dominant physically – he ranks among the bottom 7% of centre-backs in Europe’s five main leagues over the past year for aerial duels won per game (FBref) – but he makes up for that with his comfort in possession.
As per FBref, the 22-year-old is in the 98th percentile among positional peers in Europe for successful take-ons per 90 minutes (0.7) and the 77th percentile for pass completion with 89.9%.
With Joe Gomez struck down by yet another lengthy injury and uncertainty continuing to abound over Virgil van Dijk’s contract situation, Liverpool could certainly do with strengthening their centre-back options, and the RB Leipzig man would appear to be an ideal target for the reasons outlined above.
It might well come down to whether FSG are prepared to pay the £75m or so that RB Leipzig would demand for the France international.
