They are milking Harambee stars player Wanyama: Pirates of Nairobi cashing in on his sweat

Alfred, Lord Tennyson quotes a celebrated English poet said that 'No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors he uses them to rise in trade. True to Lord Tennyson's words, the lords of forgery have been making a kill out of Victor Mugubi Wanyama.

While the Southampton midfielder is at the peak of his career, backstreet businessmen too are not a sleep. In an exclusive expose, The Nairobian has unearthed a syndicate involving unscrupulous shirt manufacturers making affordable custom printed shirts disguised as Victor Wanyama Collection (VWC).

The said 'cloth line' operates an underground printing and labeling of shirts, t-shirts and other apparels neatly packaged as Wanyama's products. Investigations further reveal that the cartel that is in charge of the clothes' distribution have no specific location only preferring to deliver at various stalls and outlets in the city centre and leafy surbubs.

A visit to certain stalls in Karen and Lavington, Nairobi reveal a tale of booming business unsuspecting fans of Wanyama are cheated into believing that the Harambee Stars captain has indeed sanctioned the trade. One of the shop attendants while selling to The Nairobian snitches explained that the process of acquiring the shirts was not easy to a new comer. The lady, Anne (Not her real name) narrated that she got introduced to VWC by a friend who also runs a similar business and delivery is only done by order and one has to be very specific on the sizes. "Unajua hizi tunapewa kupitia milango ya nyuma. Sasa wewe nieleze tu sizes zile unataka so that I confirm kama ziko," a happy looking Anne said.

Anne even insisted that any one who wanted the clothes should just give her their contacts and direction then delivery would only be done once payment has been made.

"The best price is at Eastleigh. These shirts have been going like hotcake and the demand has been increasing day by day," narrated Anne.

Depending on the demand, wholesale prices range from Sh. 800 to 1200 and Anne explained that she started selling the shirts in late June and to this day, business has been really good. "The lowest a shirt would go for is Sh. 2ooo while a t-shirt sells for Sh. 1500. You see, the t-shirts are even out of stock for now," she added.

Asked if he was aware of the shirts business, Wanyama was in shock.

"No, I  do not know," said Wanyama.

"That is bad, someone is trying to make money with my name. Could you please find out who they are then let me know," Wanyama added in a text message to one of the Sports reporters.