Kazenga LuaLua

Kazenga LuaLua
LuaLua with Brighton & Hove Albion in 2011
Personal information
Full name Kazenga LuaLua[1]
Date of birth (1990-12-10) 10 December 1990
Place of birth Kinshasa, Zaire
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 Luton Town
Number 25
Youth career
2005–2007 Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2011 Newcastle United 8 (0)
2009 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) 4 (0)
2010 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 11 (0)
2010 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 11 (4)
2011 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 9 (0)
2011–2018 Brighton & Hove Albion 111 (13)
2017 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) 11 (1)
2017 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) 8 (0)
2018 Sunderland 6 (0)
2018– Luton Town 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:26, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

Kazenga LuaLua (born 10 December 1990) is a Congolese[2] professional footballer who plays as a winger for Luton Town. He previously played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United, Doncaster Rovers, Queens Park Rangers and Sunderland.

Career

Newcastle United

Born in Kinshasa, LuaLua moved to England shortly after his birth. He moved to Newcastle as a youngster, as his older brother Lomana LuaLua was signed by Newcastle United. Kazenga progressed in Newcastle's youth academy, and played for the reserve team. He was called up to the senior squad for the first time for the FA Cup third-round game against Birmingham City on 6 January 2007. At just 16 years and 27 days old, LuaLua would have been the youngest player to play for Newcastle: the record is currently held by Steve Watson.[3]

He was part of the Newcastle youth team that reached the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup in the 2005–06 season. LuaLua finally made his first-team debut on 6 January 2008, coming on in the 74th minute of an FA Cup third-round game against Stoke City as a substitute for Damien Duff.[4]

LuaLua made his Premier League debut on 19 January 2008, coming on as a substitute again for Duff at St. James's Park in a match against Bolton Wanderers and went on to make several appearances for the first team later that season, before joining Doncaster Rovers of the Championship on loan.[5] On 9 February 2010, LuaLua joined League One side Brighton & Hove Albion on loan, initially for one month.[6] LuaLua was recommended to Brighton manager Gus Poyet by Dennis Wise.[7] LuaLua rejoined Brighton on loan for four months on 30 August 2010. He then made his debut back at Brighton on 11 September 2010 and made it one to remember scoring a rocket 25-yard free kick in style and celebrating with his famous double backflip.[8] He won the Football League Young Player of the Month in October 2010[9] On 13 November LuaLua broke his leg playing against Hartlepool United in a League One game.[10] LuaLua shortly returned to Newcastle to make his recovery, and expressed his hope that he may play again in the 2010–11 season.[11] Gus Poyet stated that LuaLua played a key part in Brighton's promotion to the Championship.

LuaLua remained at Newcastle for treatment and made his first Premier League appearance of the season in a 2–2 draw with Chelsea on the penultimate week of the season. It was LuaLua's dangerous run and cut inside around Branislav Ivanović which won Newcastle the corner leading to their late equaliser.[12]

Brighton & Hove Albion

LuaLua rejoined Brighton on a six-month loan with a view to a permanent deal on 16 July 2011.[13] He signed a permanent deal with Brighton for an undisclosed fee on 21 November 2011.[14] LuaLua scored his first goal as a permanent Brighton player on 14 February 2012, a long-range free kick that tied a home match against Millwall 2–2. LuaLua's goal came two minutes before the end and salvaged a point for Brighton. The next Sunday, LuaLua scored a free-kick into the Kop End at Anfield in the FA Cup, against Liverpool as Brighton lost 6–1. With competition from fellow wingers Craig Noone, Will Buckley and Vicente, LuaLua swapped between starting and coming off the bench as an impact substitute in the following weeks.

LuaLua featured regularly for Brighton in the 2014–15 season, making 38 appearances in all competitions and scoring four goals.[15]

On 7 August 2015, LuaLua scored the opening goal of the 2015-16 Football League Championship, which eventually was the winning goal against Nottingham Forest.[16]

LuaLua made a total of 22 appearances in all competitions for Brighton in the 2015–16 season, scoring four goals.[17]

LuaLua found opportunities limited at Brighton in the 2016–17 season as the south coast club secured promotion to the Premier League, only featuring for the Seagulls five times throughout the first half of the season in all competitions, and he did not make a senior appearance for the club after the month of August.[18]

Queens Park Rangers (loan)

On 10 January 2017, LuaLua joined Queens Park Rangers on loan until the end of the 2016/2017 season.[19] LuaLua scored one goal in 11 games throughout his loan spell, a backheel against Preston North End.[20]

After Brighton's promotion to the Premier League, LuaLua was deemed surplus to requirements, and as such he re-joined QPR on a second loan spell until January 2018.[21] The loan move was terminated on 1 December 2017, with LuaLua making eight league appearances for the R's in his second spell at the club.[22]

Sunderland

On 25 January 2018, Brighton and LuaLua reached a mutual agreement to terminate his contract, with it having been set to expire in the summer of 2018.[23] He subsequently joined Sunderland on a free transfer, signing a short term contract with the Black Cats until the end of the 2017–18 season.[24] At the end of the 2017–18 season, following Sunderland's relegation, he was released by the club.[25]

Luton Town

On 26 September 2018, LuaLua signed for Luton Town until the end of the 2018-19 season.[26]

Career statistics

As of match played 29 September 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Newcastle United 2007–08[27] Premier League 203000—50
2008–09[28] Premier League 301000—40
2009–10[29] Championship 100020—30
2010–11[30] Premier League 200010—30
2011–12[31] Premier League 000000—00
Total 804030—150
Doncaster Rovers (loan) 2008–09[28] Championship 40———40
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 2009–10[29] League One 110———110
2010–11[30] League One 114—00—114
2011–12[31] Championship 90—20—110
Brighton & Hove Albion 2011–12[31][32] Championship 18121——202
2012–13[33] Championship 22520002[lower-alpha 1]0265
2013–14[34] Championship 32140102[lower-alpha 1]1392
2014–15[35] Championship 3430041—384
2015–16[36] Championship 18310211[lower-alpha 1]0224
2016–17[37] Championship 300021—51
Total 16217911135118322
Queens Park Rangers (loan) 2016–17[37] Championship 111———111
Queens Park Rangers (loan) 2017–18[38] Championship 7000000070
Career total 180181311435122023
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in Championship play-offs

Personal life

He is the younger brother of DR Congo international striker Lomana LuaLua. He is also the cousin of striker Trésor Kandol and Everton midfielder Yannick Bolasie, and also the brother-in-law of Reading striker Yann Kermorgant.

References

  1. ↑ "The Football League Limited: Club list of registered players as at 16th May 2015" (PDF). The Football League. 16 May 2015. p. 12. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Steve Watson Soccernet profile". ESPN. 16 July 2002. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  4. ↑ Craig Hope (7 January 2008). "Sam Speaks: Cup Kids A Big Bonus".
  5. ↑ "Doncaster sign Premier League duo". BBC News. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  6. ↑ "Albion sign Toon talent". The Argus. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  7. ↑ "Newcastle star joins Brighton on loan". Mirrorfootball.co.uk. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  8. ↑ "Poyet's Delighted by LuaLua Return". Seagulls.co.uk. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  9. ↑ LuaLua FL Young Player For October Brighton and Hove Albion Official Website, 22 November 2010
  10. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion rocked by Kazenga LuaLua injury". BBC News. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  11. ↑ "LuaLua Suffers Broken Leg". nufc.co.uk. 15 November 2010. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  12. ↑ "Chelsea 2–2 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  13. ↑ "Seagulls swoop for LuaLua". Sky Sports. Sky Sports. 16 July 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  14. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion complete Kazenga LuaLua signing". BBC Sport. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  15. ↑ "Kazenga LuaLua 2014–15". Soccerbase. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  16. ↑ "Brighton defeat Nottingham in the season opener". BBC Sport. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "Kazenga LuaLua 2015–16". Soccerbase. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  18. ↑ "Kazenga LuaLua 2016–17". Soccerbase. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Kazenga LuaLua: QPR sign Brighton winger on loan until end of season". BBC Sport. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "Preston North End 2-1 Queens Park Rangers - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 25 February 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "QPR sign Kazenga LuaLua on loan". www.qpr.co.uk. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  22. ↑ "LuaLua returns to Brighton". QPR Official Site. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  23. ↑ "LUALUA LEAVES ALBION". Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club. 25 January 2018.
  24. ↑ "Sunderland sign LuaLua". Sunderland Association Football Club. 25 January 2018.
  25. ↑ "Sunderland sell Fabio Borini to AC Milan and release several others". BBC Sport. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  26. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45657299
  27. ↑ "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  28. 1 2 "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  29. 1 2 "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  30. 1 2 "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  31. 1 2 3 "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  32. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion complete Kazenga LuaLua signing". BBC Sport. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  33. ↑ "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  34. ↑ "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  35. ↑ "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  36. ↑ "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  37. 1 2 "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  38. ↑ "Games played by Kazenga LuaLua in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
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