Massimo Bruno
Massimo Bruno is a Belgian footballer who plays as a right winger for Challenger Pro League club Francs Borains.
Club career
Charleroi
Born in Boussu, Belgium, Bruno started his football career at RSB Frameries before he moved to Mons. Bruno joined Anderlecht when he was eight years old. Bruno was progressing well at the club until he suffered "a growth spurt and was injured in the heel" and was out for four months. After making a recovery from his injury, however, Anderlecht released Bruno and he returned to Mons. Bruno then joined Charleroi, where he would begin his professional career. After progressing through the ranks at the club, Bruno was part of the squad for two league matches in November 2010, each time as an unused substitute. On 23 March 2011, he finally made his professional debut – and only appearance of the 2010–11 season – in a 3–0 loss to Cercle Brugge.Anderlecht
On 23 May 2011, Bruno signed a three-year deal with Anderlecht, where he had previously played in the youth system. However, in his first season at the club, Bruno failed to appear in the first team and was featured in the club's reserves instead.Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Bruno signed his first professional contract with Anderlecht. On 12 August 2012, he made his debut for the club, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute, in a 3–0 win against Cercle Brugge. On 28 August, coming off the bench, Bruno gave the assist for the winning goal against AEL Limassol, securing Anderlecht's place in the UEFA Champions League group stage. On 2 September 2012, he scored his first professional goal in a 2–2 draw against Genk. After the match, he described scoring against AEL Limassol and Genk as "a dream week" for him. Since then, Bruno became a first team regular for Anderlecht, playing in the right–wing position. On 18 September 2012 against Milan in a UEFA Champions League match, he produced good performances by "succeeding wonderfully with his many sprints" throughout the match, according to Het Nieuwsblad, as the club drew 0–0. Bruno scored four more goals in competitions by the end of the year against Boussu Dour Borinage, Gent, Club Brugge and Beerschot. On 20 November, he signed a contract extension with Anderlecht, keeping him at the club until 2017. Bruno scored three more goals in the second half of the season, including two consecutive goals against Charleroi and Club Brugge on 15 February 2013 and 24 February 2013 respectively. On 10 May 2013, he was awarded the club’s player of the month. Despite being on the substitute bench in the last two matches of the season, Anderlecht went on to win the Belgian Pro League following a 1–1 against title contender, Zulte Waregem on the last matchday of the season. Despite facing competitions and his own injury concerns throughout the 2012–13 season, Bruno finished the season with 44 appearances and scoring 8 goals in all competitions.
In the Belgian Super Cup, Bruno scored the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win over Genk to help Anderlecht win the cup.
He started the 2013–14 season well by scoring five goals in the first month, including a brace against Cercle Brugge. Bruno continued to establish himself in the first team, playing in the right–wing position for the club. His performances led teammate Dennis Praet praising Bruno, saying: "There is no competition with Bruno for the best statistics. We sometimes laugh about it, but I can't catch up with him anymore." He later scored seven more goals by the end of the year, including two braces in the Belgian Cup matches against Eupen and Westerlo; and a UEFA Champions League match against Benfica. In May 2014, Bruno played in a striker in the remaining three matches for Anderlecht when he contributed to scoring three goals, resulting in the club winning the Belgian Pro League for the second time in a row. Despite suffering minor setbacks throughout the season, Bruno finished as Anderlecht's joint top-scorer along with Aleksandar Mitrović with 16 goals in all competitions as the club won the Pro League again.
RB Leipzig
Red Bull Salzburg (loan)
It was expected that Bruno would be leaving Anderlecht in the summer, according to his father. On 12 June 2014, he signed for RB Leipzig in the 2. Bundesliga and was immediately loaned to sister club Red Bull Salzburg for the 2014–15 season. The transfer fee reported to have cost 5 million euros after sporting director Ralf Rangnick said that Leipzig did not pay 9 million euros, which would have been the club’s transfer record at the time. He was previously linked with a move to Bundesliga side 1899 Hoffenheim. Rangnick defended his decision to immediately loaning Bruno out, saying: "It's a very common practice in international football."File:FC Salzburg gegen Quarabag Agdam 23.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Bruno playing for Red Bull Salzburg in a UEFA Champions League match against Qarabağ on 6 August 2014.
He made his debut for Red Bull Salzburg, coming on as a substitute in the 66th minute and setting up the ninth goal of the game for the club, in a 10–1 win over 1. SC Sollenau in the first round of the Austrian Cup. Bruno scored his first goal for the club in the last minute of the 2–0 win against SV Ried on 2 August 2014. He scored two more goals by the end of August, scoring against Admira Wacker Mödling and Rheindorf Altach. Since joining the club, Bruno became a first team regular, playing and rotating in different positions in midfield, such as, attacking, left–wing and right–wing. He then scored two goals in two matches in all competitions between 24 September 2014 and 28 September 2014 against Wiener Sport-Club and Rapid Wien respectively. After suffering an abdominal muscle problems, Bruno scored three goals in three matches in all competitions between 7 November 2014 and 23 November 2014 against Dinamo Zagreb, Rheindorf Altach and Sturm Graz. In his single season with the club, Bruno helped Salzburg to the domestic double, recording 39 total appearances and scoring eight goals. Following his season with Red Bull Salzburg, it was announced that Bruno would be returning to RB Leipzig.
Return to RB Leipzig
Returning to RB Leipzig, competing in 2. Bundesliga in the 2015–16 season, Bruno made his debut for the club as a 64th-minute substitute in a 1–0 win against FSV Frankfurt in the opening game of the season. Since joining RB Leipzig, Bruno quickly became a first team regular, playing and rotating in different positions in midfield, such as, attacking, left–wing and right–wing. However, he was dropped from the squad and didn’t play in the first team throughout November, due to tactical reasons. During this time, Bruno started the whole game for the club’s reserve match in a 2–1 loss against Berliner FC Dynamo on 23 November 2015. On 6 December 2015, he returned to starting line–up against MSV Duisburg and set up RB Leipzig’s fourth goal of the game, in a 4–2 win. Following his return to the first team, Bruno found himself in and out of the starting line–up later in the season, he faced competitions in the midfield position and his own injury concerns. On 2 April 2016, he scored his first goals for the club in a 3–1 win against VfL Bochum. On 8 May 2016, Bruno came on as a 79th-minute substitute and helped the club win 2–0 against Karlsruher SC to seal their first-ever promotion to the Bundesliga. At the end of the 2015–16 season, he had made 26 appearances and scored two goals in all competitions.On 27 August 2016, Bruno made his Bundesliga debut, coming on as a 86th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw against Hoffenheim in what turned out to be his only appearance in the 2016–17 season. Two years later on 2 August 2018, he made his only appearance of the 2018–19 season against BK Häcken in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League’s second qualifying round and scored the equalising goal, in a 1–1 draw and saw RB Leipzig through to the next round, in what turns out to be last appearance for the club.
Return to Anderlecht (loan)
On 31 August 2016, Bruno returned to his former club Anderlecht on loan for the rest of the 2016–17 season. On 11 September 2016, he made his second debut for the club, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute in a 3–2 win against Charleroi. Since re-joining Anderlecht, Bruno found himself alternating between a starting and a substitute role throughout the 2016–17 season. On 3 November 2016, he scored his first goal for the club in two years, in a 6–1 win against 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the UEFA Europa League. After the match, Bruno said he hoped to have more opportunities to prove himself instead of sitting on the bench. Bruno added two more goals in all competitions by the end of November, scoring against Gabala and Royal Excel Mouscron. On 18 May 2017, he came on as a 77th-minute substitute and scored Anderlecht's third goal of the game to win 3–1 over Charleroi, which helped the club to the Pro League title for the first time in three years. Despite missing one match because of injury, Bruno made 39 appearances and scored six goals in all competitions during his first loan spell at Anderlecht.On 1 July 2017, Bruno's loan at Anderlecht was extended for the 2017–18 season. On 20 August 2017, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–2 loss against Sint-Truidense. On 18 November 2017, Bruno scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Royal Excel Mouscron. This was followed up by providing a hat–trick assists, in a 4–0 win against K.V. Kortrijk. However, he was unable to establish himself in the first team, due to injuries and facing competitions in the midfield position that resulted in him being placed on the substitute bench. However, Anderlecht finished the season in third place behind Club Brugge and Standard Liège, and Bruno finished the campaign with 23 appearances and two goals in all competitions. After the season, it was confirmed that the club opted not to sign him on a permanent deal.