Former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama with the African Nations Championship trophy at Nation Centre, Nairobi, on August 25, 2025.
Former Harambee Stars midfielder Victor Wanyama has been playing football around the world for 19 years.
At 34 years of age it may seem that time has come for him to hang up his boots but the “Lion of Muthurwa” is in fact searching for new leagues to explore.
If all had gone well, he would be in Scotland with Dunfermline Athletic, the Scottish Championship club he joined on a two-month contract on March 26.
He found them in the relegation zone of Scotland’s second-tier league and he left them still battling to survive in that competition.
“I had plans of staying with Dunfermline, but unfortunately, we could not agree on terms for my stay. I am now looking for a new club,” Wanyama said during an interview on NTV’s Monday night sports talk show SportOn! hosted by Bernard Ndong and James Wokabi.
He was called up to the Harambee Stars squad in June by coach Benni McCarthy for a tour of Chad but did not link up with the team for what was reported as personal commitments.
Wanyama is combining the effort of searching for a new club with doing a coaching course.
“The coaching course is intense,” he said. “I want to give myself more career options once I retire from playing,” he said.
Wanyama landed in Nairobi on Sunday evening from London and was on CAF media duties the following day with the Chan trophy tour.
Wanyama is a 2024 Chan ambassador.
Wanyama, “Big Vic” as he was sometimes referred to, spent seven years in England playing for Premier League sides Southampton from 2013 to 2016 and Tottenham Hotspur from 2016 to 2020.
Nation Media Group Managing Director and CEO Geoffrey Odundo (left) and former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama with the African Nations Championship trophy at Nation Centre, Nairobi, on August 25, 2025.
Wanyama left England in 2020 after making 97 appearances each for the Saints and the Lilywhites.
He won no trophies with either side, and a move to Canada in 2020 in search for silverware with CF Montreal did not result in any glory in the 133 matches he played for them.
His spell with CF Montreal ended in 2024, paving the way for his return to Scotland with Dunfermline Athletic in March.
He had spent two years in Scotland before playing for Celtic from 2011 to 2013 where he won two league titles and a Scottish Cup with the Hoops.
These could be considered his major trophies won in his career.
Wanyama’s recent homecoming must be tinged with nostalgia for his conquests with Celtic.
As one of the three ambassadors of 2024 Chan, Wanyama is in the country for media and promotional tours with the new tournament trophy, which features a blend of gold and silver elements that represent the prestige and allure of Chan.
The trophy features a series of 54 lines, that represent each of CAF’s member associations.
The other ambassadors are Tanzania’s Mrisho Ngassa and Uganda’s Dennis Onyango, all former internationals.
Wanyama carried the trophy with him to Nation Centre and described it as heavy. “I think it weighs six or eight kilos,” he said.
“I predict Morocco and Sudan to meet in the final,” he said during the show.
Madagascar were due to play Sudan in Dar es Salaam and Morocco against Senegal in Kampala in yesterday’s semi-finals.
Wanyama described the hefty cash rewards given to Harambee Stars squad at Chan as “motivating”.
“When you treat players right, they focus on delivering results.”
President William Ruto promised each member of the Harambee Stars squad Sh1 million for every match won and Sh500 000 for a draw.
Harambee Stars reached the quarter-finals where they bowed out unbeaten in regular play with three wins and two draws.
