Man of the moment

On a cold Wednesday night in November last year, Barcelona, undoubtedly the world’s greatest football club, jogged onto Celtic Park for a return match against Celtic FC. A fortnight earlier, they had thumped the Scottish title holders 2-1 at the Nou Camp, and on this return match the crowd at the terraces hoped for a miracle.

The atmosphere was electric as banners fluttered in the wind, their holders chanting war cries even before kick-off. This was going to be a night of pandemonium, 90 minutes of war, but who would carry the day?

Referee Bjorn Kuipers counted the boys on the pitch and, satisfied all was well, blew the whistle. From the start, the mighty Barcelona held onto the ball, their fluid passes connecting on every attempt. At the stands, the crowd of over 50,000 sang and chanted and prayed and swayed.

Three minutes later, Barcelona, still holding onto the leather, saw a chance and attempted to break. Barca forward Pedro dangerously cut in from the right to attempt a one-two with Messi, but three white-and-green shirts converged on the little devil from Spain and nicked the ball from his magic legs. The crowd roared. Messi smiled. This was going to be a hard one.

He was right. On the 21st minute, Celtic won its first corner of the game. Charlie Mulgrew, playing a defensive role for Celtic on this rainy night, fired in a fantastic shot towards the far end of the goal mouth, the missile hurtling above the heads of the small crowd gathered inside the box.

A dark, stout man soared above Barca’s Jordi Alba to connect with the ball, smashing in a rocket of a header into the roof of a stunned Victor Valdes' net. On the stands, pandemonium. On the pitch, calm.

The goal scorer marshalled his teammates to their positions and played on. He did not even celebrate — even though he would later tell a journalist that volley was the best thing he had ever accomplished in his young life.

A few minutes later, Barca equalised, but the Bhoys maintained their offensive with constant runs down the right. With seven minutes remaining, it looked as if this would be a one-all draw, then Barcelona misjudged the bounce of a long clearance and Celtic capitalised on the mistake to slot past Valdes again. Final score: Young Man and his Teammates 2: Barcelona 1.

That young, stout man was Kenyan star export Victor Mugubi Wanyama, and last week, after months of speculation on whether he would join the English Premier League, he signed a Scottish league record-breaking Sh1.7 billion deal with English side Southampton to become the first Kenyan to play in the Barclays Premier League. The previous Scottish transfer record was held by Aiden McGeady, who was sold to the Russian side Spartak Moscow for Sh1.4 billion in 2010.

Wanyama, barely out of his teens at 22, will now earn Sh16 million a month, higher than any president in the world. That translates to Sh570,000 a day, or Sh23,800 an hour, excluding match-winning and training bonuses and other benefits.

For a man who struggled to stay afloat at Kamukunji Secondary School just eight years ago before briefly joining AFC Leopards, the rise to the top has truly been fast and legendary.

For the past two years, a number of European clubs have shown interest in Wanyama, including Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Benfica (Portugal), Valencia (Spain) Inter and AC Milan (Italy). His debut in the European football was in 2007, when he turned out for Swedish side Helsingborg for one year before joining Belgian club Germinal Beerschot in 2008. In July last year, Arsenal almost made a Sh1.3 billion bid for him in order to thwart interest in him from Manchester City.

Manchester United were also said to be eyeing the star central midfielder, and Celtic also rebuffed an inquiry from another London club, Queens Park Rangers, even though Wanyama had already indicated his desire to play in the Barclays Premier League.

“I’m proud that I’m the first Kenyan player to play in the UK and I’d be very happy also to be the first Kenyan to play in the Premier League,” Wanyama told The National newspaper last year. “I think the Premiership is the dream of so many players, so I’d be happy to play there. There are a lot of good clubs in England. I’ve been happy here, and the fans have been brilliant with me. But it would not be a terrible thing for me if the club agrees to let me go... and they get a good offer.”

In 2010 Celtic and CSKA Moscow both attempted to sign in the talented Kenyan midfielder but Beerschot refused to let him go, opting instead to nurture him in the hope that he would earn the club more in time. A year later, they sold him to Celtic, where he chose to wear jersey number 67 in appreciation of the 1967 historic team that beat Internazionale Milan 2-1 to lift the European Champions Cup.

Days after joining Celtic, Wanyama netted his first in a 1-0 win over Hearts in December 10, 2011, his sterling performance making him an instant hit with fans and earning him the Scottish Premier League young player of the month award.

Wanyama hails from a family of quality sportsmanship. His elder brother McDonald Mariga is the first Kenyan to play in the Uefa Champions League, where he lifted the cup with Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in 2010. His other brothers Thomas and Sylvester are lethal in the Kenyan Premier league, while father Noah Wanyama was an international footballer while turning out for AFC Leopards in the 1980s. His sister Mercy is a professional basketball player in Kenya.

Wanyama now joins Mariga and striker Dennis Oliech in Europe's top-flight, and his joining Southampton means either Morgan Schneiderlin or Jack Cork, last season’s regulars at the club, will have to pave way for him. It is, however, expected that he will partner with Morgan and become a defensive midfielder.