•The three enterprising youngsters cracked a historic call-up to the Spanish football academy after proving their mettle in the Kenya secondary school games.
•Rainbow FC protested the approach the academy took in securing Tyron's signature.
Image: FILE
The Kenya Under-18 midfield dynamo Tryon Kariuki's dream of joining Nastic Sports Academy in Spain has gone up in flames after the transfer process encountered headwinds.
Tyron, who locally plies trade for second-tier side, Rainbow FC, impressed the Nastic scouts, who were deployed in the country to witness the Cecafa U-18 boys Championship in Kisumu and Kakamega late last year.
The academy immediately initiated transfer talks to get the 17-year-old Junior Stars' prodigy on board, a move that could have seen him join the ranks of compatriots Aldrine Kibet, Amos Wanjala, and Alvine Kasavuli in Tarragona.
The three enterprising youngsters cracked a historic call-up to the Spanish football academy after proving their mettle in the Kenya Secondary School Games.
Had the deal materialised, Tyron could have been the fourth Kenyan player to seal a Nastic Academy slot.
However, matters came to a head when Rainbow FC protested the approach the academy took in securing Tyron's signature.
Rainbow CEO Stanley Okumbi acknowledges that he, indeed, met the Nastic Academy representatives at Moi Stadium, Kasarani where they expounded on the matter. Trouble started when Nastic demanded to be allowed to own Tyron in entirety.
Okumbi termed the academy's proposal as impracticable given Tyron already had a running contract with Rainbow who are demanding a 20 percent stake in every deal involving the player.
However, Nastic has obstinately dug in, insisting that if Rainbow want to benefit from any future transactions on Tyron's account, they must be ready to pay the whole school fee of €6,000 (Sh1,034,844).
Impeccable sources said Rainbow are already grappling with deep-rooted financial constraints which have made it difficult for them to honour their league matches and, therefore, it would be impossible for them to part with that kind of money to get the player into the academy.
Nastic are also on the spot for attempting to circumvent the conventional way of conducting business after they attempted to contact the player directly through his parents with the help of a former coach who managed him in the past.
According to Okumbi, Nastic relegated Rainbow to a third party in the entire negotiations and the club only learned about the deal when the Spanish-based academy had already penned a letter instructing Tyron's former coach to release the player.
But Rainbow are increasingly coming under heavy fire, with a section of Kenyan fans accusing the club of putting their selfish interests ahead of player development.
Okumbi, however, insists Rainbow's intentions are noble and they are only keen to get their rightful share in the future when the academy eventually opts to auction the player to the highest bidder.
According to Okumbi, it would be unfortunate for Rainbow to release the player free of charge only for him to end up in well-oiled global behemoths who splash big money that can transform the fortunes of the Kenyan club.
He said Kenyans would be utterly disappointed to discover later that Rainbow supplied Tyron for free. Undoubtedly, Rainbow have every right to demand a stake in Tyron's account given he has a running contract with the club.
We can no longer afford as a nation to let outsiders milk our players dry without them benefiting in return.
Hopefully, the parties will reach a middle ground in the stalemate to allow Tyron to pursue his lifetime dream of turning into a professional abroad.