Castello Junior Lukeba (born 17 December 2002) 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

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

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig, and colloquially referred to as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bu ...

and the France national team.

Club career

Lyon

Having joined the Olympique Lyonnais Academy in 2011, Lukeba signed his first professional contract with the club on 1 July 2021. He made his professional debut for

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 ...

on the 7 August 2021 as a starter against

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

2021–22 Ligue 1 The 2021–22 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 84th season since its establishment. It began on 6 August 2021 and concluded on 21 May ...

opening round. He played full 90 minutes during the match but it eventually ended in a 1–1 draw. Lukeba made his European football debut on 25 November 2021 on a 3–1 against

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

2021–22 UEFA Europa League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Eintracht Frankf ...

group stage. He scored his first goal for the club on 22 December 2021 against

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

with a header, assisted by

Rayan Cherki Mathis Rayan Cherki (; ar, رايان شرقي; born 17 August 2003) is a French professional footballer who plays as attacking midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lyon. Early life Cherki was born on 17 August 2003 in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyo ...

with a cross following a corner. In January 2022, he extended his contract until 2025.

RB Leipzig

On 11 August 2023, Lukeba moved to the German club

for a total reported fee of €34 million, signing a five-year contract. Lukeba repeatedly emphasised his excitement and eagerness to join RB Leipzig, saying "I was extremely keen on joining RB Leipzig and moving to the Bundesliga, so I’m really happy that the move is now complete. I’m excited by the training ground, the stadium, the city and, above all, the team with all the young players– I can’t wait to play football here." He made his debut for Leipzig on 19 August 2023 in a 3–2 loss against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

, being substituted on for Nicolas Seiwald in the 62 minute. He scored his first goal for RB Leipzig in a 2–2 draw against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

on 30 September 2023.

International career

Born in France, Lukeba is of Angolan descent. He decided to represent France at the international level and received his first call up in France U-21 in November 2021, where he joined his club mates

Maxence Caqueret Maxence Caqueret (born 15 February 2000) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lyon. Club career Caqueret is a product of the Lyon academy. He made his first team debut on 5 January 2019 in a 2� ...

, and

Malo Gusto Malo Arthur Gusto (born 19 May 2003) is a French professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the France national team. Early life Malo Arthur Gusto was born on 19 May 2003 in Décines-Charpieu, a commun ...

. On 9 October 2023, Lukeba received his first call-up to the France national team for matches against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, replacing the injured Axel Disasi.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

RB Leipzig * DFL-Supercup:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

External links

Profile
at the RB Leipzig website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lukeba, Castello 2002 births Living people Footballers from Lyon French men's footballers France men's international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's youth international footballers French sportspeople of Angolan descent Black French sportspeople Men's association football central defenders Olympique Lyonnais players RB Leipzig players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Bundesliga players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics