Chelsea BOMBSHELL: €90m target available at HALF price

Tom Weber

Updated: 4 Mar 2025 05:23 CST
4 min read

Chelsea and Real Madrid target Castello Lukeba may be available at half price this summer, according to German media.

The RB Leipzig centre-back has established himself as one of the Bundesliga's more reliable defenders since replacing Josko Gvardiol in 2023. Lukeba was highly rated at Olympique Lyon and he has continued his upward trajectory in Germany.

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The Frenchman's name has been hotly discussed in recent months, with many clubs in the market for young centre-backs. It has been known for a while that Lukeba is keen to take the next step in his career in the summer.

The 22-year-old has been linked with the likes of Chelsea and Real Madrid, although he is sure to also have suitors elsewhere. Indeed, Sky Germany reports that Bayern Munich also have him on their shortlist of options.

Bayern director Max Eberl was the man who brought him to Leipzig, but adding a centre-back is not a massive priority for the Munich outfit as things stand.

Lukeba available at half price?

What has cast doubt on a summer move for Lukeba is the fact that he recently signed an improved contract with Leipzig. As part of the deal, his €80 million 2025 release clause was pushed back by a year and replaced with a €90m figure.

Despite his evident talent, it always seemed unlikely that clubs would pay this inflated fee in the summer. Journalist Florian Plettenberg concurs and suggests that Leipzig may be willing to sell for a drastically reduced price.

Plettenberg states that Leipzig could already 'pick up the phone' if a club were to offer '€40m, €50m, €60m' for the defender in the upcoming window.

However, it is too early to make definitive statements on anything that might happen at Leipzig in the summer, with the exception that Benjamin Sesko will likely leave the club and join Arsenal.

Leipzig are in the midst of a disappointing campaign and there is no guarantee that they will qualify for the Champions League. Lukeba's future could be dictated by the team's upcoming performances.

Should Leipzig qualify for Europe's premier competition, there would be less of an urgency to make big-money sales, so the departure of Sesko would potentially be enough to balance the books, leaving them under no pressure to budge from Lukeba's €90m price.