Wanyama’s agent plays public poker
Over the last fortnight there have been a flood of stories linking the Kenyan with a move away from Celtic after two seasons in Glasgow.
A transfer fee in the region of £12m will certainly ease the pain of his departure as Celtic’s transfer market strategy is perfectly highlighted.
The benefit for the player is less obvious with a nagging doubt over whether a move to a Premiership fixture filler like Southampton will benefit his medium term career hopes.
Wherever Wanyama goes his agents won’t lose out with the prospect of another season, or even six months, at Celtic ruled out as they move to cash in on their high profile client.
“We are not in talks with Southampton and have not been since their final offer of terms, which was more than two weeks ago,” his agent Ivan Modia told Sky Sports.
“The news of the fee being agreed may just be coming out now but we see little sense in a fee being agreed if there is no reasonable prospect of the player’s terms being met.
“To suggest we are talking with Southampton is totally false, their offer was way below Victor’s expectations. There is no chance of him signing the deal on offer and, in fact, both Celtic and Southampton were informed of this some time ago.
“The player will not be forced into a corner to accept the Southampton deal, just because it is good for Celtic. Remember, he has been with the club for two years now – without a pay rise – and has given them wonderful service ever since he arrived.
“Added to this is the fact that by Celtic refusing him permission to join Queens Park Rangers last summer, Victor lost more than £1m in potential salary earnings – yet he just kept his mouth shut and continued to be a model professional. Many other players may not have adopted this attitude, in the circumstances.”
Modia added: “We know there is interest from elsewhere and Victor is obviously open to those prospects – he is currently back in Kenya and hopes that Celtic will adopt a more reasonable approach and take into account the service that he has given the club so far and the rest of these issues.
“Nobody at Celtic can question his attitude and he is hopeful he can leave on good terms with the club. He loves the club and its fans, he’s played his heart out for the jersey….but he didn’t quite expect that it may end like this.”
While the calls the shots at the moment any deal agreed also needs Celtic to be satisfied with the transfer fee on offer.
If Modia thinks that Celtic can be pushed to ‘adopt a more reasonable approach’ no doubt to up his commission, he may find an unhappy client on his hands as his public negotiating backfires.