Luther Wesley Singh (born 5 August 1997) is a South African professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a winger for Cypriot club

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

and the South Africa national team. Prior to making his senior international debut in 2017, Singh represented the South Africa national under-20 team, with whom he won the Golden Boot award at both the 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships and the

2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, officially known as the Total U-20 Africa Cup Of Nations, Zambia 2017, was the 14th edition of the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations (21st edition if tournaments without hosts are included), the biennial internationa ...

Club career

Early career

Singh is an academy graduate of the famed South-African-based Stars of Africa football academy which he joined at the age of 11, after being scouted by Farouk Khan. Through the academy, Singh was afforded the opportunity to train in Brazil when he was 16 where he spent time with

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

and Fluminense.

GAIS

Singh's success at the Stars of Africa academy caught the attention of numerous clubs and in 2015 Swedish second-division side

GAIS Gais () is a village and a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. The area of Gais is . In 1977, the village Gais received the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage. The ...

signed him. In his first season with GAIS, Singh was employed as a winger and netted two goals in eight league appearances for the club before his season was cut short through injury. For the 2016 campaign, he was converted into a forward and scored the first professional

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

of his career on 22 May in a 7-0 win over

Ängelholm Ängelholm is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Ängelholm Municipality in Skåne, Scania, Sweden with 42,131 inhabitants in 2017. History The city was founded in 1516 as Engelholm by King Christian II of Denmark, who moved the se ...

. In July, the player confirmed that the Real Madrid B side and

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

had previously been in contact with Khan, as his agent, over a potential

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

. GAIS rejected these advances, however, in a bid to hold on to Singh until his contract expired. In August of the same year, Singh rejected a move to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, claiming better options would become available to him once he was a free-agent. He ultimately made 28 appearances for the

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

season and scored 9 goals as GAIS ended the campaign in eighth place.

Braga

Following the expiration of his contract with GAIS, Singh signed for Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

on 21 January 2017. There, he teamed up with the club's reserve side who played in the

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...

. He scored his first goal on 15 February 2017, netting the fifth in a 5–0 win over

Vizela Vizela () is a municipality in the Braga District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 23,736, in an area of 24.70 km². The present mayor is Vitor Hugo Salgado, elected as an independent. The municipal holiday is March 19. History In Au ...

, and ultimately scored 14 goals in 52 appearances over the next season and a half.

Loan to Chaves

In January 2019, Singh joined fellow Primeira Liga side Chaves on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

for the remainder of the season. On 3 January, he made his debut for the club and was named man of the match for his performance in a 0–0 draw with Feirense. He scored his first goal in his third appearance for the club, netting the winner in a 2–1 league win over

Tondela Tondela () is a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, central Portugal, Portuguese subregion of Dão-Lafões. The population in 2011 was 28,946, in an area of 371.22 km2. History Local writer and intellectual Amadeu Ferraz de Carv ...

. He ultimately scored twice in seventeen appearances, but Chaves suffered relegation at the end of the campaign.

Loan to Moreirense

On 13 August 2019, he joined another Portuguese club Moreirense on a season-long loan.

Loan to Paços de Ferreira

On 21 September 2020, he joined another Portuguese club

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

on a loan.

Copenhagen

On 18 August 2021, Singh was picked up by perennial Danish frontrunner F.C. Copenhagen on a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 22 August, coming on as a substitute for Mohamed Daramy in the 80th minute of a 2–0 win over

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Denmark, Danish sport corporation. They have a Football (soccer), football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two team handball, handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female bas ...

. In the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

game against

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

on 21 October, he came on as a half-time substitute, but was subbed off again before the final whistle. He was heavily criticized for his performance, with Danish commentators during the game saying that "he looks like someone who ate three burgers before coming onto the pitch". He was hospitalised in November 2021 after falling ill, something his agent later attributed to depression after being subject to criticism. Singh joined former club Chaves on a season-long loan on 24 August 2022. Singh was released from his Copenhagen contract on 1 September 2023.

International career

Under-20

Singh represented

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

at the 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships and scored in nation's 8-0 win over

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

during the group stage. After winning all three of their group stage matches, South Africa progressed to the semi-final where they beat

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

5-0, with Singh netting a

on the day. South Africa lost in the final, however, with an assist from Singh not enough to prevent the nation going down 2-1 to

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 ...

. At the conclusion of the tournament Singh was awarded the Golden Boot award for his tally of five goals throughout the competition. He then represented South Africa at the

and scored a hat-trick in the nation's opening match against

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. He scored once more against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

before South Africa were eliminated from the competition in the semi-finals, losing out again to eventual champions

. Singh's tally of four goals for the tournament, coupled with two assists earned him the Golden Boot award and a spot in the CAF Best XI. In May the same year, Singh was named in South Africa's 21-man squad for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

in South Korea.

Senior

Following his impressive performances at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, Singh was called up by interim

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Owen Da Gama to the senior national team in March 2017 for friendlies against

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

and

. Though an unused substitute in South Africa's 3–1 win over the former, he made his debut for the national team on 28 March against the latter, starting in a 0–0 draw. The following year he was named in Stuart Baxter's provisional squad for the

2018 COSAFA Cup The 2018 COSAFA Cup was the 18th edition of the COSAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). In July 2017, it was reported th ...

before taking part in the 2019 edition where he scored his first international goals, against

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

respectively.

Personal life

Singh is of black South African and partial Indian descent, through his

Punjabi Sikh Punjabi Sikhs are ethnic Punjabis who adhere to Sikhism. They are the second-largest religious group amongst Punjabis after the Punjabi Muslims, who predominantly inhabit Pakistani Punjab. Punjabi Sikhs form the largest religious community in ...

grandfather, and was raised in the

Noordgesig Noordgesig (meaning "north view/facing") is a township in Soweto, situated at the edge of area's northernmost boundary, but within its territory. It is the first township seen on entering Soweto from the frequently used New Canada Road. Noordgesig ...

township in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

. His father, uncle and cousins all played football at an amateur or semi-pro level.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Singh goal.''

Honours

Copenhagen *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

: 2021–22 South Africa U23 *

Africa U-23 Cup of Nations The U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, or simply U-23 AFCON or U-23 CAN, is the quadrennial African football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...

third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships: Golden Boot *

: Golden Boot *

: Team of the Tournament

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Luther 1997 births Living people South African men's soccer players South African expatriate men's soccer players Men's association football forwards South African people of Indian descent Sportspeople of Indian descent Soccer players from Soweto South Africa men's international soccer players South Africa men's under-20 international soccer players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for South Africa GAIS players S.C. Braga B players G.D. Chaves players Moreirense F.C. players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players F.C. Copenhagen players FK Čukarički players AEL Limassol players Superettan players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Serbian SuperLiga players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus South African expatriate sportspeople in Sweden South African expatriate sportspeople in Portugal South African expatriate sportspeople in Denmark South African expatriate sportspeople in Serbia South African expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 21st-century South African sportsmen