for Portsmouth as they finished in mid-table in their debut season in the Premiership. Manager Harry Redknapp was sufficiently impressed with LuaLua's performances that when his loan spell ended at the end of the 2003–04 season, he signed LuaLua permanently at a cost of £1.75 million. LuaLua made 26 league and cup appearances, scoring six goals, including two against local rivals Southampton, in the 2004–05 season. The season was marred by a groin injury at the beginning and a hamstring injury in May 2005. Disciplinary problems led to charges by the Football Association of abusive behaviour in December 2004 and improper conduct after he was sent off against Blackburn Rovers in January 2005, for which he received an extra one-match ban and a fine of £5,000 in addition to a three-match ban for the dismissal. He made 26 appearances in the 2005–06 season, scoring seven goals, but missed several games in the autumn after contracting malaria on a visit to Africa to play for DR Congo. He also missed several games due to international duty at the 2004 African Cup of Nations and missed games in April 2006 after damaging his foot while doing his acrobatic goal celebration during a game against Arsenal. His disciplinary problems continued when he was warned by the Football Association over his future conduct; this came after he admitted a charge of improper conduct in relation to comments made about referee Uriah Rennie after a 3–1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in December. LuaLua signed a new three-year contract in July 2006; it was set to keep him at Portsmouth until 2009. An ankle injury suffered in a pre-season friendly led to LuaLua missing the beginning of the 2006–07 season. He struggled to break back into the first-team, making only eight starts out of 24 appearances, and scored only two goals in that season. Manager Harry Redknapp warned him that he needed to "...start performing" and that he had to "...start producing next season". However, he joined Greek club Olympiacos in August 2007 and Redknapp admitted that, "Lua wants to move on... I've no doubt he'll go away and be a great player for Olympiacos. He wants a change, he wants to play in a role behind the strikers and he wants to move abroad. He will get to play in the Champions League by moving to Greece. He has been a top Premier League player