The son of a Congolese footballer who played seven years in Portugal for four clubs, mainly Vitória de Setúbal, his mother being Portuguese, Makukula was born in Kinshasa. He started playing professionally in Spain, for UD Salamanca and CD Leganés, scoring 20 goals with the former in the 2001–02 season – spent in the second division – second-best in the competition. The following summer, Makukula moved to France to play with FC Nantes, splitting the campaign between the first team and the reserves. He was subsequently loaned to Real Valladolid, netting eight times but suffering relegation from La Liga. Makukula was then bought by another Spanish side, Sevilla FC. He appeared sparingly in his first year, and in no games whatsoever in the following after the Andalusians purchased Luís Fabiano, Frédéric Kanouté and Javier Saviola; he subsequently served two loans, with Gimnàstic de Tarragona and C.S. Marítimo, the latter in his adopted nation. After seven Primeira Liga goals in only 13 matches, Makukula transferred to S.L. Benfica for €3.5 million and four and a half years in late January 2008. On 14 February, he scored the game's only goal in a home win against 1. FC Nürnberg in the UEFA Cupround of 32. Makukula was not used at all by Benfica in the first part of 2008–09. On 16 January 2009, he signed for Bolton Wandererson loan until the end of the campaign with a view to a permanent move costing around £4.5 million in the summer. He made his debut a day later against Manchester United, playing 64 minutes in a 0–1 home loss. On 11 August 2009, Makukula was loaned again, now to Süper Lig club Kayserispor in Turkey. He ended the season as the competition's top scorer, with eight goals more than the second player as his team finished eighth; in the very last minutes of the 2010 summer transfer window he signed a three-year deal with another side in the country, Manisaspor, for €2 million. In the summer of 2012, Makukula agreed to a contract with another Turkish team, Karşıyaka S.K. in division two. He was released in January of the following year, returning to his country of adoption after five years and joining Vitória de Setúbal.
International career
Makukula chose to represent Portugal internationally. He started playing for the under-21s, appearing in the 2002 UEFA European Championship. As a senior, Makukula tried to switch to DR Congo, but a FIFA amended rule regarding international careers came out in 2005, stating that change in nationality representation should occur before a player's 21st birthday and if they have not yet gained their first full cap, so he was denied in his intentions. In October 2007, after solid performances with Marítimo, he was called up to the Portuguese squad for a UEFA Euro 2008qualifier against Kazakhstan on the 17th, after Nuno Gomes suffered an injury: in the 84th minute of the game, he scored the first goal in an eventual 2–1 away win. Although not part of 24-men Portuguese 2010 FIFA World Cup provisional squad, Makukula was named in a backup list of six players, although he did not make the final cut.
