McDonald Mari...

McDonald Mariga (born 4 April 1987 ) is a Kenyan football player who currently represents Parma F.C. . Starting his career at Ulinzi Stars before moving to Pipeline FC, the talented central midfielder came 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 Olympia was immediate and he became one of the team's key players. Following initial interest from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, McDonald Mariga looked set to sign for the Premier League team, but work permit issues have since held up the deal which was supposed to have cost around 2.7 million Euros. He moved to the Serie A club Parma F.C. on loan in August 2007. The Italian club has an option to buy him in the summer for a fee of 20 million Swedish kronor (around €2 million) [1], and if not he will return to HIF to complete the last part of their season in Allsvenskan . His contract with the Helsingborg outfit expires in the summer of 2010. Mariga scored his first international goal for Kenya against Swaziland on 25/03/2007. Mariga was a member of the famed Kamukunji High School 'Golden Boys', which also included Kenyan striker Dennis Oliech ( Auxerre, France ), that won two consecutive National Championships in 2002 & 2003. There is a legend about Mariga and Oliech that goes : Kamukunji High School were trailing Parklands High 5-0 at the interval, while Mariga and Oliech were tied up in class with exams. Come the 2nd half and with about 20 minutes left in the game, the duo completed their exams, got into the game and scored a hat trick each to lead their high school to a 6-5 victory. Mariga, who has just agreed to a four year deal to keep him at Serie A side Parma for four year till end of June 2012 was traded for Swedish Kronor 18 Million (Approx. 1.94 Euros). 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,who was valued at €800,000 way back in July last year saw his price tag gradually grow to the current figure fetched in just under a year after great performances in the Italian Serie A since he moved from Helsingborgs at the close of the European transfer window last August. At 21, this highly rated central midfielder has, within a short time, moved from modest Swedish side Helsingborgs to Italy 's top tier (albeit briefly) with FC Parma, who snapped him up for a fee close to €2 million after he impressed on an intial loan deal. He was capped at full international level in 2006 and has now been linked with a transfer to Serie A giants AC Milan as well as Napoli .