Junior Castello Lukeba (born 17 December 2002) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the France national team.
 Lukeba with Lyon in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Junior Castello Lukeba[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 17 December 2002[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lyon, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | RB Leipzig | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Saint-Genis Laval | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2021 | Lyon | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Lyon B | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Lyon | 58 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | RB Leipzig | 41 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | France U17 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | France U20 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | France U21 | 20 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | France Olympic | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | France | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:22, 30 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
editLyon
editHaving joined the Olympique Lyonnais Academy in 2011, Lukeba signed his first professional contract with the club on 1 July 2021.[3] He made his professional debut for Lyon on the 7 August 2021 as a starter against Brest on 2021–22 Ligue 1 opening round. He played full 90 minutes during the match but it eventually ended in a 1–1 draw.[4] Lukeba made his European football debut on 25 November 2021 on a 3–1 against Brøndby in 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage. He scored his first goal for the club on 22 December 2021 against Metz with a header, assisted by Rayan Cherki with a cross following a corner.[5] In January 2022, he extended his contract until 2025.[6]
RB Leipzig
editOn 11 August 2023, Lukeba moved to the Bundesliga club RB Leipzig for a total reported fee of €34 million, signing a five-year contract.[7][8] 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."[9] He made his debut for Leipzig on 19 August 2023 in a 3–2 loss against Bayer Leverkusen, being substituted on for Nicolas Seiwald in the 62nd minute.[10] He scored his first goal for RB Leipzig in a 2–2 draw against Bayern Munich on 30 September 2023.[11]
International career
editBorn in France, Lukeba is of Angolan descent.[12] 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, Rayan Cherki, and Malo Gusto.[13]
On 9 October 2023, Lukeba received his first call-up to the France national team for matches against the Netherlands and Scotland, replacing the injured Axel Disasi.[14]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of match played 30 November 2024[15]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lyon B | 2020–21 | CFA 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | CFA 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||||
| Lyon | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | — | 30 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 34 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 2 | |||
| Total | 58 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 68 | 4 | |||
| RB Leipzig | 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| Total | 41 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 108 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 5 | ||
- ^ Includes Coupe de France, DFB-Pokal
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
edit- As of match played 17 October 2023[16]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
Honours
editRB Leipzig
France U23
- Summer Olympics silver medal: 2024[18]
References
edit- ^ a b "Squad List: Men's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024: France (FRA)" (PDF). FIFA. 27 July 2024. p. 2. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ "Castello Lukeba". Olympique Lyonnais. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ "First professional contracts for Lukeba, Lega and Bossiwa; Nsombi signs a development deal". www.OL.fr.
- ^ "Résultat et résumé OL - Brest, Ligue 1 Uber Eats, 1re journée, samedi 07 août 2021". L'Équipe.
- ^ "Après OL – Metz : L'ascension de Castello Lukeba" (in French). Olympique Lyonnais. 23 December 2021.
- ^ "Prolongation de Castello Lukeba jusqu'en 2025" (in French). Olympique Lyonnais. 3 January 2022.
- ^ "CASTELLO LUKEBA JOINS RB LEIPZIG". RB Leipzig. 11 August 2023. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ "Transfer of Castello Lukeba to RB Leipzig". Olympique Lyonnais. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ "Castello Lukeba joins RB Leipzig: long-term contract". rbleipzig.com. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ Sofascore. "Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs RB Leipzig live score, H2H and lineups | Sofascore". www.sofascore.com. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "RB Leipzig 2-2 Bayern Munich (30 Sep, 2023) Final Score - ESPN (UK)". ESPN. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "França: Castello Lukeba estreia a titular na principal liga francesa". 9 August 2021.
- ^ "Olympique Lyonnais. Castello Lukeba surgit après une progression constante". www.leprogres.fr.
- ^ Presse, AFP-Agence France. "Lukeba Called In For Injured Disasi By France". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ^ Castello Lukeba at Soccerway
- ^ Castello Lukeba at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ Lisjak, Mitja (12 August 2023). "Olmo s hat-trickom pokvaril veliki debi Kana pri Bayernu" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ Ronay, Barney (9 August 2024). "Camello's extra-time double clinches football gold for Spain against France". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
External links
edit
- Profile at the RB Leipzig website
- Castello Lukeba at the French Football Federation (in French)
- Castello Lukeba – French league stats at Ligue 1 – also available in French
- Castello Lukeba at Soccerway
- Castello Lukeba – UEFA competition record (archive)