Big Ballers

Forget the celebrity musicians that rake in money from performances, music sales and endorsements; the new glamour boys are football stars plying trade in glamorous leagues and raking in big bucks, by the week. TONY NGARE unveils Kenya's celebrity footballers with cash to boot

When Ghanaian International footballer Asamoah Gyan recorded and released a clip of African Girls, artistes should have smelled the coffee. The top marksman did not only change his dribbling skills but he also scored with his vocals in this release — Ghanaian Highlife video.

In this video he gyrates to his famous Asamoah Gyan Dance’ celebration, which most fans will recall during the 2010 World Cup and recently at Sunderland FC, where he plies his trade. The song recently scooped top honours during Ghana Music awards. Nowadays, professional footballers are not only finding their feet with the ball but also with fame too.

In the local celebrity scene, there is a new Sheriff in town. Move aside musicians, hypemen, thespians and movie stars for the arrival of professional footballer with megabucks. They may look shy during a social event but their grand entry is always something to note. Just check how Dennis Oliech and MacDonald Mariga roll in the social scene. There is a host of stars that might not catch your eye in social scene, but make no mistake about their bank accounts. They easily take home more than many CEOs in Kenya’s corporate landscape.

Here are Kenya’s big earners on the football pitch:

McDonald Mariga, Inter Milan, Italy

Jose Mourinho rarely settles for second best, so when he signed McDonald Mariga from Parma after Mariga’s initial plan to join Man City fell throw, that’s when many people realised how good Mariga had become. Reportedly, it cost Inter a cool Sh250 million.

Born of a sporting family, Mariga is arguably the most famous of his siblings. His father Noah Wanyama, a left-winger, is a former AFC Leopards and the Kenyan national football team player. Mariga’s younger brother Victor Mugabe Wanyama is also a professional football player currently playing for Scottish Premier League side Celtic, while another brother, Thomas Wanyama plays for the Kenyan Premier League champions Sofapaka.

 Yet another brother Sylvester Wanyama plays for Sony Sugar. While their younger sister Mercy Wanyama, a former captain of Langata High School basketball team, is reported to have landed Sh20million deal, four-year basketball scholarship to play for the California Baptist University in US.

The soft-spoken Mariga is never shy when it comes to big cars. His fleet of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) have in the past included a Toyota Land Cruiser VX (just try to import one) and a red Hummer when they were still a spectacle on Nairobi streets. He also spins a Jaguar.

Last December, Mariga acquired a lavish multi-million home on the beaches of Malindi. Mariga’s house is close to the palatial mansion of Italian billionaire businessman and former Formula One chairman Flavio Briatore.

He has also moved his parents from the sprawling Landi Mawe area, behind Nairobi Railways Station, to the more serene and leafy suburbs of Lavington. We cannot reveal his stellar pay, which is in millions every week.

Dennis Oliech, AJ Auxerre, France

They call him Denis the Menace, for that is what he usually is to opposition defence. However, away from the pitch, Dennis Oliech, Harambee Stars Captain, is one of the few football stars that easily hobnob with the Nairobi socialites. Clearly, he knows too much football and little play could make Dennis a dull boy.

Oliech turned professional even before he sat for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE)

His easygoing, down to earth attitude has also made him an easy target for Nairobi gold diggers.

Over time, he has been rumoured to be having flings with myriad of girls. Though he is not known to have settled down with any, he is well averse that celebrityhood comes with notorious baggage.

Due to his rumoured fat pay, every move that he makes (probably even lifting a glass to his lips) is closely watched.

Just two months back Oliech shipped in his new car to add to his garage, which contains the much talked head turner, the Chrysler 300C SRT-8 series. Sources close to the football star claim that the car cost more than Sh10 million even before customisation.

The Porsche Cayenne is an SUV for those who would rather be driving a sports car. It’s a luxurious, sexy and powerful alternative to a minivan or the ho-hum SUVs that make up the luxury midsize pack — and now there’s even a hybrid model for drivers concerned about fuel economy or the environment.

The speedy striker surely likes to keep his pace on and off the pitch.

Oliech’s fortunes will for sure inspire budding soccer stars that would one day love to emulate him. The fact that sports is a career that can make a person as rich as the guys sitting in the boardrooms is no longer in doubt.

Johanna Omollo, Germinal Beerschot

Belgium

In what is turning out to be the best transfer period for Kenyan footballers, another Kenyan midfielder, Johanna Omollo, signed a three-year contract with Belgian club Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen Club last month. After two years, Omollo could decide to venture out for greener pastures or stick with the Belgian club for another year.

Beerschot AC participates in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League (Highest level) and provided a platform where Victor Mugabe could prove himself before attracting the eyes of Celtic FC’s scouts.

Omollo, valued at Sh15 million by his club, will surely watch money start trickling in once he has fully settled in the club.

According to Wikipedia, Germinal Beerschot is currently affiliated with Fulham FC, Charlton Athletic and AFC Ajax, which raises possibility that were he to move from Beerschot, these three clubs would be in line to sign him.

Victor Mugabe, Celtic FC

Scotland

Victor Mugabe is a younger brother to McDonald Mariga. Besides, his brother Mariga and Oliech, he is the next Kenyan footballer playing for a big club in Europe and he seems to know that, as he revealed, he snubbed Aston Villa to win silverware for the Scottish giants.

He will also be featuring in Europe’s second most prestigious competition, the Europa League.

Initially, Mugabe’s work permit application was automatically refused as Kenya are ranked outside the top 75 countries in the world, at 130 on Fifa’s latest list.

But Celtic convinced the panel that the player, who has played for Kenya eleven times, would make a significant impact on Scottish football.

Hoops manager Neil Lennon had to plead his case via conference call from Australia, where the first-team squad were then on a pre-season tour.

Mugabe also revealed that his brother, who plays for Inter, advised him to move to Celtic.

Wanyama said: "I spoke to my brother and he helped me to choose Celtic. He told me this was a great step for me and I would have the chance to win trophies."

As he has realised by now, playing for big clubs and winning trophies also lines one’s wallet. In just a few months, he stands to be booking appointment with the bank manager alongside his more famous brother as he slowly becomes his own man and we stop referring to him as Mariga’s brother.

George ‘Blackberry’ Odhiambo, Randers FC

Denmark

To Kenyan football fans George ‘Blackberry’ Odhiambo needs no introduction.

His breathtaking dribbling skills and marauding runs on the wing a kin to England’s Gareth Bale have every defender wary.

After playing for Thur Gem High School as a schoolboy, he was discovered by former Gor Mahia coach James Siang’a and announced his arrival at the Kenya Premier League with a brace against Ulinzi. Since then he has never looked back as he went on to clinch the coveted player of the year title. From there he could only turn professional. And turn he did. He is under contract to Randers FC in Denmark until 2015. That shows they really value him. He is featured in Goal.com’s 100 Young Stars To Look Out For In 2011.

So if you were to work with basic pay for many professional footballers in Europe, which in the region of €15,000(roughly Sh2million) per week. So if you give the lad a few more years, he will be awash with cash just as the more established stars.

Ever wondered how he got his curious nickname ‘Blackberry’? It is believed that this moniker was given to him by a local journalist, who upon seeing the forward play remarked, "he is like my blackberry, he can do everything."

Now chances are that he talks one and it’s not those Christmas bargains that you have to wait with bated breath for your service provider to dish out.

Humphrey Ochieng’ Mieno, Club Africain

Tunisia

Mieno who grew up in Ziwani Nairobi started his career with Umeme FC while in high school at Parklands Secondary School. He later joined KCB immediately after finishing high school in 2008. In 2009, he joined KCB for one season before he was poached by Sofapaka towards the end of the 2009 season (Umeme FC is entitled to a percentage of Mieno’s transfer fee as his development club.)

Mieno, who was purchased from Sofapaka for nearly Sh10 million must be having a lucrative deal with the Tunisians. Nobody buys a car worth Sh10 million and takes it to Grogan near Nairobi River for repairs or service. So in the same vein Mieno must be smiling all the way to some Tunisian bank. He also sees the transfer as just but a stepping-stone to European football. Indeed I can’t agree more with him, when you play at Tunis, with Europe just a couple of hours by canoe, Europe has got to be the ultimate destination.

Jamal Mohammed, Targu Mures

Romania

Fondly known to his fans as Malo Malo, Jamal Muhammed is Kenya’s equivalence of England’s Joey Barton. He is as talented as he is temperamental. When on holiday, you will not miss Malo Malo on the social scenes. He is particular fond of Nairobi’s ‘Electric Avenue’. He is one of the most reliable players on pitch when Harambee Stars is in need of some creative spark.

Jamal has had a chequered career. He was twice sacked by Mathare United for gross misconduct but it appears those days have since been forgotten.

The midfielder has played a vital role in Kenya’s Afcon 2012 qualifying campaign. In the last two matches, he has come in as a substitute and when Kenya hosted Angola in March, he scored the opener that led to Harambee Stars winning 2-1.

If he can keep in check his discipline and temper, Malo Malo can definitely go places. And he loves riding in his convertible BMW.

Allan Wanga, Ho‡ng Anh Gia Lai

Vietnam

When he was asked to turn up at Tusker for trials, his contact at Tusker did not turn up. He had to watch from a distance as famous Tusker players chasing the premier league arrived for the day’s training. Players he had only heard on radio (yes he is from Western) play football were now right in front of him. That’s Wanga’s humble beginning. Now globe-trotting Wanga is engaged to Brenda Mulinya, a TV reporter with a local station.

A few months after joining Tusker, as he waited to go for trials in Sweden, Angola’s Petro Atletico came calling. The negotiations took place at Nairobi’s Hilton Hotel. The deal was too good as the Angolans were willing to spend nearly Sh3 million to clinch his signature. And off he went.

With his newly found tag "Professional player", Wanga arrived in Angola on January 4, 2008.

"At the airport, what awaited me was almost impossible to comprehend. A bevy of reporters cutting across from Radio Station and TV stations were awaiting Petro new kid on the block," he said.

"After all I was in Angola to replace their new boy wonder Manucho, who was headed to Manchester United. In relation therefore, I was being looked at as a ‘Big team’ material, or something of that level. But from Kenya."

A chauffeur driven state-of-the-art BMW was in wait together with a translator. Such is the transition. After helping Petro to win the Girabola, he moved on. He has previously turned up for Baku in Azerbaijan. If he is gunning for Europe he has used quite a long route.

Arnold Origi, FK Moss

Norway

Arnold Origi is one of the finest goalkeeper’s Kenya has ever produced after the era of the legendaries Mohamoud Abbas, Washington Muhanji and James Siang’a. He currently plays his professional football in Norway for FK Moss and the Kenyan national soccer team Harambee Stars.

While he has the potential of hitting the popularity that these three former custodians achieved, he is sure to better them on one front—money. As good as these keepers were, in their era, professional football was like global warming, it was unheard of. Therefore, if — financially — Origi avoids the kinds of ghastly mistakes that saw him concede a sheepish goal against Eritrea, then he can amount to much more than just a famous keeper with nothing to show for it.

Born to former Gor Mahia player Austin Oduor, Origi hails from a soccer family with his famous uncle Mike Okoth also having been a goalkeeper before switching to the striking position that earned him admiration as one of the pioneer foreign-based professionals in Kenya.

If he was not a footballer Origi says he would have wished to become a sports journalist or hold a career in relation to sports because sports is the passion for the simple guy who doesn’t like complicated life.

Patrick Oboya, FK Fotbal Tinec

Czech Republic

Born in Nairobi’s sprawling slums Mukuru kwa Njenga, Patrick Oboya has something in common with many footballers — they use football to escape poverty.

Life in the slums is a life with no luxuries of water, electricity and other social amenities. Dressing, sleeping in comfort and having three full meals, is just but a luxury.

Muggings, pilfering and thefts are common; they become a ‘career’ to many, but not all. He horned his skills playing football made of juala in Marigo-ini, an ‘estate’ within Mukuru slums. By virtue of living in South ‘B’ and near the training ground of the then Premier League side Kenya Pipeline (now defunct); Oboya started playing with the club side. That was a start of a star in the making.

Last year, he had a contract dispute with his parent club FK Banik Most, a case that went all they way to the Zurich Fifa’s venerated headquarters such is life—sometimes. The boy, who played in dusty paths in the slum area would never have thought that he would call appoint the all-powerful Fifa to free him from a captive contract. It’s now four years since he turned professional and his game has been growing. Well...obviously his bank account too.

Taiwo Atieno, Stevenage FC

England

Last year, he famously remarked, "Kenyan women are more beautiful than any women I have ever seen. I swear. When I first came to Africa, I did not expect to see as many beautiful women. There are more beautiful women in Kenyan than I have seen in the whole of the UK."

He also names The Mug as one of favourite hangouts alongside The Tribe in Nairobi.

Born Opiyo Taiwo Leo Awuonda, the footballer is the son of Moussa Awuonda, a former Nation Newspapers correspondent and Bridget Mary Glaisher. He began his football career at the age of 15 with Walsall FC and has featured for a myriad of teams both in England and US. Taiwo also has an identical twin brother, Kehinde Roberts, who plays basketball at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Always a poster boy Taiwo and despite his high appraisal of our girls, he has been rumoured to be is dating Keisha Buchanan, a former member of the UK pop group Sugababes.