Is Wanyama headed to Tottenham?

News that Tottenham are preparing a Sh2.6 billion bid for Kenyan international Victor Wanyama did not come as a surprise.

Even though no deal had been agreed yet by mid last week, it was all but done for a player who has been on the rise since making his professional debut seven years ago.

Unlike many local players who rarely last in their foreign sojourn, Wanyama’s graph has been on an upward trend and things continue to get better for him on the field — and in his wallet.

Consider this, when he joined Belgium side Beerschot in 2008, Wanyama was earning a salary of Sh1 million per month.

His four year stay at the club ended in 2011 when he left to join Scottish champions Celtic on a Sh150 million transfer.

Wanyama joined Celtic on a Sh8 million per month salary. When the offer to join Southampton came in 2013, Wanyama jumped at it with both feet considering that he had been offered Sh16 million salary per month.

By moving to Southampton, Wanyama also made money for Celtic. The Sh2.1 billion paid by the English side was a record transfer fee for the Scottish side.

Having paid just Sh150 million for his services, Celtic made more than Sh1 billion in profits from Southampton.

But now the Kenyan has received an even better offer from Tottenham Hotspur who are willing to pay the player a staggering Sh24 million per month in salary.

 This will make Wanyama the highest paid Kenyan — he will be taking more than ten times what some of the top earning Chief Executive Officers earn in Kenya.

Apart from the huge salaries, Wanyama has also made a number of firsts in his professional career.

His move to Celtic made him the first Kenyan to play in the Scottish league — and the only one so far.

While at Celtic, he also made history by becoming the first Kenyan to score in a Champions league match when he scored against Spanish giants Barcelona in a 2-1 win for his side.

His move to England also made him the first player from the region to play in the lucrative English

Premier League (EPL) which is followed closely by millions of local fans.

Peter Orero who discovered the player when he was a student at Kamukunji Secondary School, says he is not shocked by the rise of Wanyama.

“Even then, he looked quite promising. He was one of the most talented players in our team, and very disciplined. We never had trouble with him while at Kamukunji and we all knew he was going places,” he said.

Local clubs will be following news of Wanyama’s latest move with a lot of interest considering that none has been paid compensation fee after he moved to Southampton owing to a dispute over his player passport.

Nairobi City Stars, AFC Leopards, JMJ Academy and Country Bus are all laying claim to part of the transfer fee paid by Southampton.

The matter has moved to football’s world governing body Fifa who are yet to make a decision on who should be paid the money.