It's every footballer's dream to play on the international scene be it in England, Spain, France, or Germany. To date, this amazing feat has only been achieved by a number of Kenyan players who have burst to the limelight and cemented their place in the annals of sports history.
The dream was, however, not meant to be in the case of Kenyan ace McDonald Mariga who had received a grand opportunity to play for English Premier League giants, Manchester City.
During the transfer window in 2010, speculations were strife of a possible signing of Mariga to the City club.
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The rumours were deemed true after the club offered a whopping fee of Ksh722 million in order to buy Mariga who played for the Italian club, Palma Calcio, at the time.
International news outlets such as The Guardian and Sky Sports had affirmed that a deal had already been floated, which the Italian club had agreed.
Unfortunately, on the day of the transfer window deadline, the EPL giants missed out on the opportunity after Mariga's work permit application was turned down.
According to the FIFA rules, for any footballer from another country to complete a move to an English football club, their country must be in the top 70.
Kenya at the time had a FIFA ranking of 98 hence costing the talented superstar who had amassed 24 caps for the national team and played in at least 75 percent of their games from the period of 2008 to 2010.
Attempts by Manchester City to dispute the law were futile as the verdict on Mariga's permit still remained.
Eager to explore his talents in other clubs, Mariga sealed another deal on the final day of the transfer window, moving to Italian giants, Inter Milan in a co-ownership deal.
The transfer fee of the deal was Ksh617 million (€5 million). Former Inter Milan boss, Massimo Moratti, hailed Mariga's transfer to the club as one of the biggest things that could have happened to the club.
If Mariga would have moved to Manchester City at the time he would have been the first Kenyan to have played in the EPL.
The milestone was, however, achieved by Mariga's brother, Victor Wanyama after he moved to Southampton during the Summer of 2013 when some of the rules had been relaxed.
Mariga played for Inter Milan for four years before being released and later rejoining Parma in September 2014. He later moved to Spanish Segunda División club Real Oviedo in July 2017 and ultimately announced his retirement in 2019.