McDonald Mariga

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McDonald Mariga

Mariga with Inter in 2010
Personal information
Full nameMcDonald Mariga Wanyama
Date of birth (1987-04-04) 4 April 1987
Place of birthNairobi, Kenya
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing positionDefensive Midfielder
Club information
Current clubParma
Number15
Youth career
2003–2004Tusker
2004–2005Kenya Pipeline
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2005Enköpings SK0(0)
2006–2007Helsingborgs IF37(6)
2007–2010Parma62(4)
2010–Internazionale21(1)
2011–2012→ Real Sociedad (loan)14(0)
2012→ Parma (loan)11(1)
2013→ Parma (loan)2(0)
National team‡
2006–Kenya33(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 December 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 November 2012

McDonald Mariga Wanyama (pronounced [mɨkˈdɒnʌld mɑˈriːɡɑ wɑˈŋɑmɑ]; born 4 April 1987) is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan.

Mariga made history as the first Kenyan footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League on 16 March 2010.[1]

Club career

Early career

Mariga started his playing career at Ulinzi Stars before moving first to Tusker FC and then to Pipeline FC while still at school.[2] Mariga was a member of the Kamukunji High School 'Golden Boys', which also included Kenyan striker Dennis Oliech (Auxerre, France), who won two consecutive National Championships in 2002 & 2003.

The central midfielder went to Sweden in 2005 to play for third Division side Enköpings SK. After only one season at ESK, he signed for Helsingborgs IF before the 2006 season. His success at Helsingborgs was immediate.[3] Following initial interest from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, Mariga looked set to sign for the Premier League team, but work permit issues held up the deal which was supposed to have cost around €2.7million.[4]

Parma

He moved to the Serie A club Parma initially on loan in August 2007. The Italian club had an option to buy him in the summer for a fee of 20 million Swedish kronor (around €2million).[citation needed] Mariga agreed to a four-year deal to keep him at Serie A side Parma for four years until the end of June 2012, after the club paid a transfer fee for Swedish Kronor 18 million (approx. 1.94 million euro). The deal, brokered by former Swede great Martin Dahlin, now an agent, falls short of the 20 Million Kronnor asking price initially set by Helsingborgs. 25% of the transfer fee will go to Enkopings SK, the club that first got Mariga to Sweden in 2005.

Mariga played 35 times for Parma in the Serie B during the 2008–2009 season scoring three times to help them back to Serie A for the 2009–2010 season.

In January 2010 he was set to sign for English Premier League club Manchester City, but he failed to obtain a work permit.[5] It was later stated by Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga that 22-year-old Mariga had eventually obtained a UK work permit but only after the transfer window for the Premier League had closed. Had Mariga successfully signed for Manchester City, he would have been the first player from the East African country to sign for a club in the top English league[6] - a milestone later achieved by his brother, upon his transfer to Southampton in July 2013.

Inter Milan

On 1 February 2010, the last day of the transfer window, Mariga moved to Inter Milan in a co-ownership deal however he initially attempted a big-money move to Manchester City until a work permit was turned down by the Home Office. The transfer fee was €5 million in a cash plus player deal which Parma got half the registration rights of Jonathan Biabiany (€2.5 million) and the loan of Luis Antonio Jiménez.[7][8] Following the move, Inter president Massimo Moratti hailed Mariga's move as the "best thing that could have happened" to the club in the January transfer window.[9] He made his debut for Internazionale in the 1st leg of the 2009 Coppa Italia Semi-final against Fiorentina. Inter narrowly won the match 1–0. In March 2010 Mariga became the first Kenyan to play in the UEFA Champions League, when he entered the field as a late substitute against Chelsea.[10]

Mariga thought he scored his first goal for Inter on 24 April 2010 against Atalanta when he netted Samuel Eto's back pass into the roof of the net. However his shot deflected off Sulley Muntari and the goal was credited instead to the Ghanaian. He also scored a thrashing header against Genoa for the Nerazzuri in a game that ended 3–2.

On 17 June 2010, Inter bought him outright and bought back Biabiany for a reported fee around €10 million.[11][12] However on the official accounts shown half of Biabiany was valued €4.2 million, while Mariga's half was also €4.2 million. Thus, Parma booked an financial cost of €800,000 for the discount[13] but on Inter side a financial income of €800,000,[14] as Inter actually paid €9.2 million only instead of €10 million. Moreover Luis Antonio Jiménez originally included in the deal but collapsed after Inter lost its portion on 25 June. In January 2011 Inter gifted Parma half of the registration rights of Joel Obi for a peppercorn fee but never left Inter, and half of the registration rights of Nwankwo for a price nearly equal to half the price Inter bought him.

At the start of season Mariga was loaned out to La Liga club Real Sociedad. It made Inter had a non-EU transfer quota which used on winter signing Juan and Fredy Guarín (the other quota was obtained from Philippe Coutinho). As Mariga was unable to return to Inter, he was loaned back to Parma instead and he scored his only goal against Lazio. The next fixture he was injured against Novara, which resulted he will be out for the rest of the season. After that Inter Milan coach Andrea Stramaccioni wanted Jonathan and Mariga to be back from Parma.

International career

Mariga scored his first international goal for Kenya against Swaziland on 25 March 2007.

Honours

Internazionale Milano

Personal life

Mariga's father, Noah Wanyama, a left winger, played for A.F.C. Leopards and the Kenya national football team. His younger brother Victor Wanyama is also a professional football player, who is currently playing for Premier League side Southampton FC, while his other brothers Thomas and Sylvester play for Kenyan Premier League clubs Sofapaka and Sony Sugar respectively. Their younger sister Mercy is the captain of the Lang'ata High School basketball team. She previously played football and netball.

References

  1. ↑ "Mariga makes history". BBC News. 17 March 2010. 
  2. ↑ "Mariga's failed dream move to Man City is an indication of the rot in local football". The Standard. Retrieved 2 March 2010. 
  3. ↑ "McDonald Mariga". SvFF. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  4. ↑ Redknapp ends interest in Mariga
  5. ↑ Daily Nation, 1 February 2010: Mariga's Man City transfer suffers setback
  6. ↑ Kenya Prime Minister Odinga pushed for Mariga permit
  7. ↑ "Mariga signs for Inter". inter.it. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  8. ↑ Mariga joins Inter after Man City move collapses
  9. ↑ Moratti delight at Mariga deal
  10. ↑ The Standard, 20 March 2010: Local players and fans should learn from Mariga’s exploits
  11. ↑ "LEONARDI: BOJINOV A TITOLO DEFINITIVO". Parma FC (in Italian). 16 June 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010. 
  12. ↑ "Ufficiale: l' Inter ha riscattato Mariga e Biabiany per 10 milioni". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 17 June 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010. 
  13. ↑ "Bilancio Parma 2009/10: dalla B alla A, più ricavi e minori perdite". ju29ro.com (in Italian). 28 August 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2012. 
  14. ↑ FC Internazionale Milano Report and Accounts on 30 June 2011 (Italian) CCIAA

External links

Inter Milan – current squad
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