Jhon Lucumi: Bologna’s Colombian Colossus in Defense
Since finishing fifth in Serie A and ending a six-decade Champions League drought, Bologna have suffered a massive exodus. Thiago Motta has parted ways and become Juventus’ new manager, top scorer Joshua Zirkzee has made the move to Manchester United, and Riccardo Calafiori could be set to join him in the Premier League with Arsenal reportedly keen on a move. Another player who could be on his way out could be Jhon Lucumi.
Coming through the Deportivo Cali youth team set up, Lucumi made his debut for the club in 2015 against Internacional De Palmira in Liga Dimayor Finalizacion. Lucumi would play eight times that season for Deportivo Cali spanning 720 minutes played for the club. Appearances were spread thin over the next few years with a combined 24 appearances in the 2016 and 2017 Colombian domestic season.
His final year in Colombia for Deportivo Cali was the 2018 season and Lucumi played twenty times for the club, playing at both left back and centre back. He played eighteen games in Liga Dimayor Apertura, two games in the Copa Sudamericana against Danubio FC, Deportivo Cali won the tie over two legs after defeating Danubio FC over two legs winning the first 3-0 and losing the second 3-2.
His final appearances for Deportivo Cali were over a two-legged defeat against Atletico Nacional in the Fase Final Liga Dimayor. Atletico Nacional won the tie 2-1 on aggregate, after losing the first leg 1-0. Belgium came calling in 2018 when KRC Genk bought the Colombian defender for £2.5m which over the years in Belgium turned out to be a steal.
Lucumi became a valuable asset for the Belgian side and showed the potential and class they were talking about in Colombia after making his debut at just the tender age of 17. Over the next four seasons, before his departure to Italy in August 2022. Lucumi played 137 times for KRC Genk in the Jupiler Pro League or in Europe, scoring three goals.
One which came in UEFA Champions League in a 6-2 defeat to Red Bull Salzburg in the 2019/20 season. KRC Genk was in a group of Red Bull Salzburg, Liverpool, and Napoli. A certain Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick that day. Hee-Chan Hwang, Takumi Minamino and Dominik Szoboszlai was also in the Red Bull Salzburg.
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In August of 2022, Lucumi’s time at KRC Genk had come to an end. A time for a new chapter and a change of scenery, this time it was Italy and Bologna. His time in Belgium was a success, winning two trophies: the 2018/19 Jupiler Pro League and Croky Cup in 2020/21 season, with KRC Genk defeating Standard Liege in the final 2-1. An £8m fee was agreed and KRC Genk also received a 20% future sell on fee.
The late great Sinisa Mihajlovic was his first coach at Bologna and he liked to play with a 3-5-2 and before his passing, he lasted just a few games in charge of Bologna in 2022/23 season. Lucumi debut would come on Matchday Two away at the San Siro against AC Milan in a 2-0 defeat playing as the central defender in a 3-5-2 alongside Gary Medel who was club captain and Adama Soumaoro.
Mihajlovic was sacked after the fifth game of the season in September 2022 after a 2-2 draw with Spezia. Unfortunately, he would pass away on December 2022 due to complications of Leukaemia. Gone but never forgotten. Thiago Motta took over in September and stamped his authority on the Bologna team and got Bologna finishing ninth in Serie A with 54 points from 38 games.
Bologna missed out on Europa Conference League qualification by just two points in the league standings. As Fiorentina took Juventus spot in Europe after the latter was banned from Europe. Motta changed the footballing style and principles, playing his 4-2-3-1 which everyone in his side is very comfortable on the ball. For Lucumi, he amassed 33 appearances in Serie A and 2901 minutes in football, and he even wore the captain’s armband against Lazio, Salernitana and Udinese.
The second season in Bologna will go down in football folklore, Bologna made it into the top table of continental football by qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. Italy had five UEFA Champions league spots under the coefficient rules of 2023/24 season. Bologna finished fifth with 68 points from 38 games.
They clinched UEFA Champions League football with a 2-0 win away at Napoli on matchday thirty-six with a comprehensive 2-0 away win against Napoli who were the champions the previous season. Lucumi excelled in a very solid defensive line up which featured, Stefan Posch, Riccardo Calafiori, Sam Beukema, Victor Kristansen, Lorenzo Di Silvestri and Charalampos Lykogiannis.
A strong defensive line helped Bologna propel to the heights which they achieved. Jhon Lucumi featured 29 times in Serie A amassing 2,213 minutes played. He missed five games earlier in the season with a thigh injury. At the crunch time of the season, Lucumi started fourteen times out of the last fifteen games of the season.
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For the Colombian national team, Jhon Lucumi made his debut in June 2019 when Carlos Queiroz was in charge, a 3-0 international friendly win over Panama. Fast forward five years later, Lucumi has featured 20 times, the last of which came against Paraguay in the opening match. Yerry Mina replaced Lucumi after 25 minutes, and he did not make another appearance as Colombia made it all the way to the final only to lose to Argentina at the death, suffering their first defeat since February 2022.
At 26 years old, the future looks bright for Jhon Lucumi, and whether or not he’ll be continuing his Bologna career alongside new manager Thiago Motta or testing his skills outside of the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara next season, one thing’s for sure: Los Cafeteros have a brilliant defender that they can build their backline around for the next five years.
By: Scot Munroe / @scot_munroe
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / NurPhoto