It is pretty clear that Chelsea are riding high at the moment. It has been a great week, thanks to the 3-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League. And things can get even better if they can manage to defeat Arsenal at the weekend in front of the home fans. Of course, that is easier said than done, considering how good Mikel Arteta's side have been this season. But don't count the Blues out either.
That being said, one cannot overlook what we have seen for months on the basis of how well things have gone in recent matches. Chelsea have a lot of areas where they can still improve.
One of them is centre-back. Yes, they have kept three clean sheets on trot, but overall, things have been shaky. We have seen them struggle to deal with balls into the box and long throw-ins consistently. And Arsenal are the type of team who could take advantage of that.
In the absence of Levi Colwill, it does not feel like they have a centre-back with elite potential. They have been linked with quite a few centre-backs in recent times though and it looks like the release clause of a French international is set to drop next summer, although it will still remain significant.
Chelsea target's release clause set to drop next summer
As reported by The Athletic, Castello Lukeba’s contract has a €90 million release clause but the figure drops to €80 million at the end of the season. The plan remains for him to leave within the next 18 months.
Now, there are a lot of things to like about Lukeba's game. According to fbREF, over the past year compared to positional peers in the Big 5 Leagues, UCL and UEL, he is 99th percentile in terms of successful take-ons, 93rd percentile for blocks, 87th percentile in progressive passes and 84th percentile in progressive carries.
Then again, he won't solve Chelsea's issues aerially. On the contrary, he might add to them. Lukeba is 22nd percentile when it comes to aerials won.
One cannot deny that he can be part of a solid defensive backline though. RB Leipzig conceded six goals against Bayern Munich in their Bundesliga opener this season. But in the ten league games Lukeba has played since then, they have conceded just four goals and never more than once in a single match, keeping six clean sheets. In the one game in which he did not play, they conceded thrice against Hoffenheim.