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Victor Wanyama

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Victor Wanyama
Wanyama training with Celtic in 2012
Personal information
Full name Victor Mugubi Wanyama[1]
Date of birth (1991-06-25) 25 June 1991 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth Nairobi, Kenya
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 12
Youth career
2006–2008 JMJ Youth Academy
2006 Nairobi City Stars
2006–2007 AFC Leopards
2007–2008 Helsingborg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Beerschot 51 (2)
2011–2013 Celtic 61 (10)
2013– Southampton 80 (4)
International career‡
2007– Kenya 35 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 April 2016
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 September 2015

Victor Mugubi Wanyama (Kenyan English: [ˈvɪktɜr muˈɡubiː wɑˈɲɑːmɑ] ⓘ; born 25 June 1991) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for English club Southampton and captains the Kenya national team.[3] On the field, Wanyama is known for his sportsmanship and leadership qualities.[3]

Wanyama became the first ever Kenyan player to score in the UEFA Champions League when he scored the first goal in Celtic's 2–1 win over Barcelona on 7 November 2012.[4] On 11 July 2013, Wanyama moved to Premier League club Southampton for £12.5 million making him the most expensive player sold by a Scottish club, surpassing the £9.5 million Russian club Spartak Moscow paid for Aiden McGeady in 2010.[5]

He has earned over 30 caps for the Kenyan national team since making his international debut in May 2007 at the age of 15.

Early life

Wanyama attended Kamukunji High School, which fields a successful football team. Upon leaving High School, he also played with JMJ Academy for three years during which time he also joined Kenyan Premier League clubs Nairobi City Stars and AFC Leopards.[6] In 2007 he joined Allsvenskan club Helsingborg but after the departure of his brother McDonald Mariga to Serie A side Parma in 2008, Wanyama returned to Kenya.

Club career

Beerschot AC

After a successful trial, Wanyama signed for Beerschot AC on a four-year contract in summer 2008. He made his debut in a League match at the end of the 2008–09 season. In September 2009, he was fined €100 and given a three-match suspension for a violent tackle on Matias Suarez of Anderlecht.[7]

In the summer of 2010 Scottish Premier League club Celtic attempted to sign Wanyama but Beerschot did not allow him to leave. Russian club CSKA Moscow also attempted to sign him, but they failed as well.[8]

Wanyama scored his first goal for Beerschot on 11 December 2010, a 77th-minute equaliser against Westerlo. In April 2011, he received another three match suspension after video evidence showed he had elbowed Brecht Dejaeghere of K.V. Kortrijk.[9]

Celtic

Wanyama playing for Celtic in 2012

On 9 July 2011, Wanyama finally completed a £900,000 move to Celtic from Beerschot AC, after the Scottish club had failed to sign him the previous year.[10][11] He signed a four-year contract and in doing so became the first ever Kenyan to play in the SPL. Wanyama chose 67 as his squad number to honour the Lisbon Lions, Celtic's 1967 European Cup winning team.[12][13] Wanyama made his Celtic league debut in a 1–0 loss to St Johnstone on 21 August 2011. He played in central defence rather than his favoured central midfield role.[14] He came on as a late substitute in a 4–0 win over Motherwell,[15] and played for the whole second half in a 2–0 League Cup win over Ross County.[16] On 29 September 2011, he started in Celtic's 1–1 draw with Italian team Udinese in the Europa League. This was his first European match for the club.[17] On 10 December 2011, Wanyama scored his first goal for Celtic in a 1–0 win over Hearts at Celtic Park, a tremendous 25-yard strike which hit the top corner.[18] His performances during December earned him the Scottish Premier League young player of the month award.[19] He scored his second Celtic goal on 2 January 2012 in a 3–0 win against Dunfermline at East End Park.[20] Wanyama scored in Celtic's 2–1 win against Dundee United at Celtic Park[21] and in the 4–0 victory against Hearts at Tynecastle.[22]

In October 2012, Wanyama scored twice against St Mirren at Saint Mirren Park, the second of which was a half volley from 25 yards out.[23]

On 25 October 2012, Wanyama's agent released a statement saying that he had turned down an improved contract offer from Celtic, stating that his wage demands could not be met by the club amid speculation of interest from clubs in England.[24] On 7 November, Wanyama opened the scoring with a powerful header as Celtic shocked Barcelona in the Champions League group stage, by beating them 2–1 at Celtic Park.[25]

Southampton

Wanyama with Southampton in September 2014

After much speculation and a previous breakdown in talks, on 11 July 2013, Wanyama signed for Premier League side Southampton for a fee claimed to be £12.5 million,[26] making him the first Kenyan to ever play in the Premier League.[27]

Wanyama said:

Southampton is a good club and it has good players, so I just want to train hard and work hard to be a part of the starting XI. We'll see where that will take me. It feels great and I am happy to be here. There were other options, but Southampton is a club with ambitions so I chose to come here. I'm very grateful to be here and I'm looking forward to playing in the Premier League.

He made his debut on 17 August 2013, in 1–0 away win against West Bromwich Albion.[28] Wanyama made 24 appearances in his first season, but injuries hindered his efforts to make much of an impact in the team.[29]

Under new manager Ronald Koeman, Wanyama came into his own in the 2014–15 season.[30] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 league victory over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on 20 September 2014, after replacing James Ward-Prowse in the 69th minute.[31] His next goal came in an 8–0 trouncing of Sunderland on 19 October 2014.[32] Wanyama would score his third goal for the Saints in spectacular fashion, a 40-yard shot after Eldin Jakupović's poor clearance fell straight to him, in what proved to be the only goal in a win over Hull City.[33] His performances saw him awarded the league's African Player of the Month for September,[30] with him stating "It is wonderful being recognised as someone who has done well for his club."[30]

International career

Wanyama made his debut for the Kenyan national team in May 2007, aged just 15 in a friendly against Nigeria.[6] He also played in all six of Kenya's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He became the captain of his national team in 2013.

Appearances in films

Wanyama participated in the production of a short film about soccer in Kenya called Mdudu Boy, written and directed by actress Ella Smith. [34]

Career statistics

As of 9 April 2016[35][36]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Beerschot AC 2008–09 1 0 – – – – – – 1 0
2009–10 20 0 1 0 – – – – 21 0
2010–11 30 2 4 0 – – – – 34 2
Total 51 2 5 0 – – – – 56 2
Celtic
2011–12 29 4 4 0 4 0 5 0 42 4
2012–13 32 6 5 1 2 0 10 2 49 9
Total 61 10 9 1 6 0 15 2 91 13
Southampton
2013–14 23 0 1 0 0 0 – – 24 0
2014–15 32 3 2 0 4 0 – – 38 3
2015–16 25 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 30 1
Total 80 4 5 0 4 0 3 0 92 4
Career Total 194 16 17 1 10 0 18 2 239 19

Honours

Club

Celtic

Individual

Personal life

Wanyama comes from a very sporting family. His brother McDonald Mariga plays for Parma F.C., also as a midfielder,[37][38] while his other brothers Thomas and Sylvester Wanyama are also footballers in the Kenyan Premier League. His father, Noah Wanyama, was a footballer for A.F.C. Leopards in the 1980s,[39] and his sister Mercy is a professional basketball player in the USA.[40]

Wanyama is managed by ExtraTime[41] and has a boot sponsorship deal with Nike.[41]

References

  1. ^ a b "Victor Wanyama". Goal.com. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Victor Wanyama profile". Southampton FC. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Celtic's Victor Wanyama has joined Southampton, say Kenyans". BBC Sport. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Wanyama: Saints' sights on Europe". FIFA. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Southampton in record swoop for Wanyama". FIFA. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  6. ^ a b Mugabe wants to cement position in Belgium club Standard Digital, 5 January 2010
  7. ^ Wanyama suspendu trois matchs (Wanyama suspended three games) Footgoal, 29 September 2009 Template:Fr icon
  8. ^ Wanyama va rester au Germinal Beerschot (Wanyama stays with Germinal Beerschot) Footgoal, 16 April 2010 Template:Fr icon
  9. ^ Wanyama poursuivi (Wanyama continued) Footgoal, 18 April 2011 Template:Fr icon
  10. ^ "Wanyama is a Celt". Celtic FC. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Victor Wanyama wins work permit appeal to sign for Celtic". Scotzine.com. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Stipe Pletikosa and Victor Wanyama set to make Celtic bow". Evening Times. Herald & Times Group. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  13. ^ "Germinal's Victor Wanyama completes switch to Celtic". BBC Sport. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  14. ^ "'When they scored the fans wanted more and we couldn't handle it'". Herald Scotland. Herald & Times Group. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  15. ^ "Celtic 4–0 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  16. ^ "Ross County v Celtic – 21 September". Eurosport. Yahoo! Sport. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  17. ^ "Celtic 1–1 Udinese". BBC Sport. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  18. ^ "Celtic 1–0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  19. ^ "Celtic's Victor Wanyama named SPL Young Player of the Month". STV Sport. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  20. ^ "Dunfermline 0 – 3 Celtic". BBC Sport. 2 January 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  21. ^ Celtic's Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama strike to sink Dundee United guardian.co.uk, 14 January 2012
  22. ^ Hearts 0 Celtic 4: match report The Telegraph, 8 February 2012
  23. ^ "Clinical Celtic warmed up for the Nou Camp with what turned out to be little more than a training exercise as they outclassed a feeble St Mirren". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  24. ^ "Scottish Football – Wanyama rejects Celtic deal". Eurosport. Yahoo!. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  25. ^ "Debutant Watt lights up memorable Celtic victory". UEFA. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  26. ^ "Victor Wanyama: Southampton sign Celtic midfielder for £12.5m". BBC Sport. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  27. ^ "Wanyama makes Saints switch". Southampton FC. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  28. ^ "West Brom 0–1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  29. ^ "Victor Wanyama desperate for Saints to end with record breaking tally". Daily Echo. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  30. ^ a b c "Wanyama considered switch" (24 October 2014). Football 411. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  31. ^ "Swansea 0–1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  32. ^ Reddy, Luke (18 October 2014). "Southampton 8 – 0 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  33. ^ Keegan, Mike (1 November 2014). "Hull City 0 – 1 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  34. ^ Ellis, Dawn (2 July 2015). "Film being made by Westcountry actor has celebrity support". Western Morning News. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  35. ^ "V. WANYAMA Stats". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  36. ^ "Victor Wanyama Stats". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  37. ^ Mariga confirmed at Parma Futaa.com, 31 January 2012
  38. ^ Kenya's McDonald Mariga faces lengthy spell out BBC Sport, 13 April 2012
  39. ^ Noah Wanyama hits the campaign trail Futaa.com, 18 October 2011
  40. ^ Mercy Wanyama secures Kshs.20Million scholarship package MichezoAfrika, 6 August 2011
  41. ^ a b Victor Wanyama ExtraTime
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