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The Nairobian

Things you didn’t know about Premier League newcomers

Football

By - BBC | Sep 04, 2013

Victor Wanyama endured a poverty-stricken upbringing in Kenya. [Photo: Courtesy]

You know the transfer fees and stats, have listened to the media-trained platitudes from the new signings and debated the winners and losers in the transfer window.

However, amid the frenzied transfer activity, you may have missed some of the more quirky and curious snippets that have been reported about those players new to the Premier League this season.

One of them is Kenya’s international footballer Victor Wanyama who plies his trade in Southampton.

He is the first Kenyan to play in the Premier League.

The defensive midfielder won his first pair of football boots aged 14 as a reward for being the best player at a tournament but this did not come easy as he played barefoot.

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Wanyama has revealed his parents were so poor that he had to win his first pair of football boots to play.

Joining him in the peculiar circumstances among the Premier League newcomers is Samuel Eto'o, Aly Cissokho, Tiago Ilori, Razvan Rat, and Leroy Fer.

Samuel Eto'o, the Cameroonian striker bought by Chelsea from Anzhi Makhachkala revealed in his autobiographical comic book published in January he sold fish on the streets of Douala as a child.

Aly Cissokho on one-year loan from Valencia at Liverpool had his transfer to AC Milan collapsed in 2009 after the Italians claimed they had found a problem with his teeth during his medical.

Tiago Ilori, the London-born Portuguese defender, 20, reportedly holds the speed test record at Sporting Lisbon - making him faster than Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani.

Razvan Rat, 32 who plays for West Ham, answered phones at West Ham's ticket office to try to help the club sell more season tickets.

Leroy Fer 23-year-old Dutch midfielder bought from FC Twente by Norwich made headlines in December when he bought a £22,000 horse for his girlfriend before realising she could not keep it as she lived in a flat and there were no stables nearby.

- Adapted from BBC