Luke Bruno Milanzi (born 4 December 1994), variously known as Luka Milanzi or Bruno Milanzi, is a former Malawian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Club career

Milanzi joined Congolese side

TP Mazembe Tout Puissant Mazembe, commonly referred to as TP Mazembe, is a Congolese professional association football, football club based in Lubumbashi. History Tout Puissant Mazembe, the first sports club from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a ...

in 2010 from ESCOM United in suspicious circumstances, with FIFA having to intervene after Milanzi had signed a -year deal, despite international rules stating players under 18 could only sign 3-year deals. The two sides' documentation reportedly did not match either, with rumours of Milanzi lying about his age, a common occurrence in African football. Because of this, when he called up to the Malawi national team in 2010, Milanzi had to travel through

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

before entering Malawi, and often has trouble journeying between countries due to his questionable documents. In January 2012, TP Mazembe loaned Milanzi to its affiliate CS Don Bosco. Milanzi remained under contract with TP Mazembe. However, he did not break into the first team, and would be loaned to NAPSA Stars and ZESCO United. In 2014, Milanzi was cleared to play for the

Mighty Wanderers Mighty Wanderers Football Club is a Malawian football (soccer), football club based in Blantyre, Malawi, Blantyre. They currently play in the TNM Super League, the top division of Malawian football. History Mighty Mukuru Wanderers FC is one of ...

of his hometown, Blantyre, after initially not being able to sign due to preconditions on his loan release. He impressed during his time with The Nomads, who then extended his loan deal in 2015. He signed on loan for the

Big Bullets Nyasa Big Bullets is a Malawian professional association football club based in Blantyre, currently playing in the TNM Super League, the top division of Malawian football. The club was formerly known as Bata Bullets, Total Big Bullets and Bakil ...

in 2016 from

. He joined Masters Security in April 2017 in a loan deal from Big Bullets. However, due to an issue with wage payment, he left in late 2017 to join Blue Eagles. He played for the Eagles for a few months before being released. Shortly after his release from the Eagles, Milanzi retired prematurely from football, citing an injury sustained during his time with TP Mazembe.

International career

Milanzi played for the Malawi under 17's at the

2009 African U-17 Championship The 2009 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Algeria. The top four teams qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Nigeria, automatically qua ...

, despite supposedly only being 14 at the time. He also played at the

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. Switzerland national under-17 football team, Switzerland won the tournament, beating the host team and holde ...

, where he made three appearances and scored a consolation goal in a 4–1 loss to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He made his one and only senior appearance in 2010, a second-half substitute in a friendly against Zimbabwe. He was called up to the squad again in 2015 while playing for the

Coaching career

In 2020, Milanzi went into coaching, attending a course to obtain a Local D license and coaching at local Mzuzu club Bright Stars. He later went on to coach Rumphi United in the Super League of Malawi. After a stint with Kadona Stars, he managed Karonga United, but after the club were fined due to Milanzi's lack of a CAF B coaching license, he was replaced by Trevor Kajawa. Having remained with the club as part of the coaching staff, he left after a year in March 2024. Days after leaving Karonga United, he was named assistant manager of Dedza Dynamos.

Career statistics

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milanzi, Luke 1994 births Living people Footballers from Blantyre Malawian men's footballers 21st-century Malawian sportsmen Malawi men's international footballers Malawian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Eagle Strikers FC players TP Mazembe players NAPSA Stars F.C. players ZESCO United F.C. players Masters Security FC players Blue Eagles FC players Malawian expatriate sportspeople in Zambia Expatriate men's footballers in Zambia Malawian expatriate sportspeople in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Expatriate men's footballers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Malawi men's youth international footballers