Introducing Castello Lukeba
Get to know our new signing from Olympique Lyon | The reason he chose the number 23 and other interesting facts
Bonjour, Castello!
Castello Lukeba has officially joined RB Leipzig! The defender arrives from Olympique Lyon on a long-term contract with Die Roten Bullen.
Good to know
- The 20-year-old’s full name is Castello Junior Lukeba. The back of his jersey will only have "Castello Jr." written on it.
- Castello is a big fan of Michael Jordan, which is why he has chosen the number 23 jersey.
- During his time as a first-team player at Lyon, he has previously won the numbers 4, 14 and 34.
- He was born on 17th December 2002 in Lyon and joined Olympique Lyon’s youth academy in 2011. Castello’s professional debut for OL came as an 18-year-old.
- Castello teams up with fellow France U21 international Mo Simakan at Leipzig. The duo lined up alongside each other in defence during the European U21 Championship in Romania and Georgia this summer.
Elite group and a meeting with Leipzig
- Like his new teammates Fabio Carvalho and Benjamin Sesko, Castello also made the 2022 Golden Boy shortlist. The award is given annually to best U21 talent.
- Castello and RB Leipzig crossed paths back in December 2019. Our new signing was in the Olympique Lyon defence when our U19 sides met in the UEFA Youth League. The French side came away with a 1-0 win.
- Castello caught the eye in Ligue 1 with his aerial prowess, with two of his four league goals coming from headers.
- You can see what Castello gets up to in his private life by following him on Instagram (@jrcastello_).
In good company
- Castello Lukeba is the third Frenchman in our squad alongside Mo Simakan and El Chadaille Bitshiabu. Overall, he will be the eighth French player in RB's history (Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté, Nordi Mukiele, Jean-Kevin Augustin and Christopher Nkunku).
- Our eighth summer signing is also under the age of 23. Castello (20) has pushed the average down to 20.8 years.
