Liverpool have dominated the transfer headlines this summer, with the Reds already breaking their club record fee.
Florian Wirtz’s transfer cost the Anfield outfit £116million, and even though Arne Slot has spent close to £200million on new arrivals, it doesn’t feel like they’re going to stop there.
Several players are being continually linked with a Liverpool move, and until Slot believes his team is ready to retain the title, those rumours are likely to keep emerging.
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A new striker and centre-back seem to be the priority for Liverpool at the moment, with a move for a 22-year-old defender now seemingly in the works.
Liverpool have been invited to make a bid for Castello Lukeba this summer
Indeed, Marc Guehi is the man who has been the most linked with a move to Liverpool this summer, but Castello Lukeba’s name has also popped up on occasion.
The RB Leipzig defender is only 22 years old, and despite suffering an injury during the 2024-25 campaign, he impressed on multiple occasions.
And now, as per a report from CaughtOffside, Liverpool are now ‘optimistic’ that a move for the young Frenchman can be sanctioned.
Liverpool are looking to sign the centre-back for a ‘cut-rate’ price, with the Reds looking to sign the defender for a fee between £50 and £55million.
Lukeba has already had ‘internal discussions’ with Leipzig regarding his future with the Bundesliga outfit, agreeing that he could be prised away from the club for a ‘significantly lower fee’ than his release clause.
Castello Lukeba could be more of a risk than Marc Guehi for Liverpool
It’s clear that a new centre-back is high on the priority list for Liverpool this season.
Both Lukeba and Guehi have been consistently linked with an Anfield switch, and although Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are the Reds’ starters at the moment, whichever centre-back comes in will be expected to challenge for a first-team spot.
Although Lukeba may have a higher ceiling than Guehi, the fact that the Englishman already has plenty of Premier League experience and is arguably England’s best centre-back makes him the smarter choice.
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The Crystal Palace captain also only has a year left on his current deal, so unless the Eagles sell him this summer, he could end up leaving for free from January onwards.
Of course, only time will tell what the future holds, but with the way things are panning out, one of the two will more than likely become a Liverpool player this summer.