Who is Castello Lukeba? The £78m-rated RB Leipzig stopper who could be Liverpool's Eder Militao

Arne Slot has two key positions that he will want to address before the transfer window closes and his Liverpool squad is set in stone until January.

Before a new No.9 can be signed, he will want Darwin Nunez to complete his move to Napoli to free up funds that can be reinvested immediately with a host of names linked throughout the summer.

A more pressing concern, is replacing Jarell Quansah who signed for Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal. Richard Hughes pulled off a masterstroke to futureproof Liverpool though with a buy back clause.

Who is Liverpool target Castello Lukeba?

The latest name to emerge as a possible replacement is Castello Lukeba, who has been linked again via The Mail. Similar to Quansah he is fresh off a successful European Under-21 Championships for France and also has a senior cap to his name too. It is an area of the park where his country is well catered for, so it shows how highly rated he is in his homeland.

Lukeba signed for RB Leipzig in 2023 and still has four years left of his contract with the Germans, a contract that has a £78m release clause in it. Claims suggest that Leipzig are willing to accept less than this though and still make a sizeable profit on the £30m investment that they paid Lyon.

It is a long list of clubs who are keeping tabs on 6ft tall Lukeba with Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur currently linked and with Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea also mentioned as potential suitors in the past.

Using Data MB’s comparison tools, Lukeba is a carbon copy of Real Madrid’s Eder Militao but is even better defensively in terms of winning duels and in terms of carrying the ball out of defence.

Domestically, the nearest example in terms of style of play is Fulham’s Calvin Bassey. Not the biggest in terms of height but is a monster in 1v1 battles and has the attributes that mean he can play at left-back too, a trait shared by Lukeba.

Lukeba has “incredible qualities”

A report by Liga Insider detailed just how good a player Lukeba is becoming this season, earning the praise of his manager in the process:

"Castello has incredible qualities; he's a top talent in Europe," praised Leipzig’s former interim head coach Zsolt Löw. "He interpreted the position a little differently than David Raum, but he still gave us a huge added value," Löw continued. "Of course, he still needs a bit of understanding of the position, a bit of training on how to play even better as a full-back."

Liverpool have secured the future of the left-back position with the signing of Milos Kerkez, however, Andy Robertson only has another year left of his contract and they might be looking to the future. What Lukeba also does is allow Slot to change formation during games and adopt his tactics depending on the opposition.

Left footed players are always worth more money, a left footed defender who could slot in seamlessly to partner Virgil van Dijk or sit in at left-back to allow Jeremie Frimpong to bomb on at right-back could make a real difference to how Liverpool play.