{"id":30239,"date":"2025-12-02T03:22:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T08:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/02\/source-chelsea-lead-premier-league-rivals-liverpool-in-race-to-sign-e90m-star\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T03:22:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T08:22:03","slug":"source-chelsea-lead-premier-league-rivals-liverpool-in-race-to-sign-e90m-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/02\/source-chelsea-lead-premier-league-rivals-liverpool-in-race-to-sign-e90m-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Source: Chelsea lead Premier League rivals Liverpool in race to sign \u20ac90m star"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/02\/source-chelsea-lead-premier-league-rivals-liverpool-in-race-to-sign-e90m-star\/#Castello_Lukeva_is_a_perfect_example_of_a_modern_central_defender\" >Castello Lukeva is a perfect example of a modern central defender<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/02\/source-chelsea-lead-premier-league-rivals-liverpool-in-race-to-sign-e90m-star\/#Chelsea_will_face_Liverpool\" >Chelsea will face Liverpool<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Europe&#8217;s top clubs are on the hunt for new defenders, with 22-year-old French centre-back Castello Lucaba at the center of the deal.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Clubs across England are interested in signing RB Leipzig&#8217;s highly-rated defender, with Chelsea currently leading the charge in the winter, according to sources close to the agent industry. <em><strong>catch off side<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>But they aren&#8217;t the only ones, with Liverpool, Manchester United and even Newcastle United keeping a close eye on him, showing just how in-demand Lukba is becoming.<\/p>\n<p>Lukeva started his senior career with Olympique Lyon before moving to Leipzig in 2023. Since then, he has established himself as a regular starter in the Bundesliga.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Castello_Lukeva_is_a_perfect_example_of_a_modern_central_defender\"><\/span>Castello Lukeva is a perfect example of a modern central defender<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>What makes him especially attractive is his profile. He is a physically strong, athletic, and ball-handling center back. Leipzig rate him highly and his current contract reportedly runs until 2029.<\/p>\n<p>The defender has made 12 appearances for RB Leipzig so far this season.<\/p>\n<p>Initially, Rukuba&#8217;s contract included a release clause of 90 million euros, a figure that understandably scared off many suitors.<\/p>\n<p>However, recent developments have significantly changed the calculations in favor of potential buyers.<br \/>Leipzig may be willing to let him go in January for around 60 million euros, which is a significant discount from his clause.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, this clause is set to be reduced to around 80 million euros next summer, potentially further easing negotiations and intensifying the bidding war.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Chelsea_will_face_Liverpool\"><\/span>Chelsea will face Liverpool<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">RB Leipzig&#8217;s Castello Lukeba (Photo by Pau Barrena\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chelsea are looking to strengthen their defense and want to continue their habit of investing in top young talent.<\/p>\n<p>For Liverpool, Lukuba represents both a long-term investment and an immediate addition to a defense that has struggled of late.<\/p>\n<p>Man United could be in the race to sign a young defender, but defensive reinforcements are not a top priority for them at the moment as they focus on signing a new midfielder, although interest in the Bundesliga star remains.<\/p>\n<p>Whether clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool make a big push in January or wait until the summer for a more structured deal will reflect not just their urgency to add to their defense, but their long-term vision for their defence.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Report: Chelsea make surprise offer for Newcastle star highly rated by Jose Mourinho<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Europe&#8217;s top clubs are on the hunt for new defenders, with 22-year-old French centre-back Castello Lucaba at the center of the deal. Clubs across England are interested in signing RB Leipzig&#8217;s highly-rated defender, with Chelsea currently leading the charge in the winter, according to sources close to the agent industry. catch off side. But they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-30239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}