Benni McCarthy welcomes Aldrine Kibet transfer to La Liga side RC Celta de Vigo

Kenya national team Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has applauded under-20 national team attacking midfielder Aldrine Kibet for sealing a transfer move to Spanish La Liga side Celta Vigo after signing a four-year deal.

The deal will see the 18-year-old Kibet initially join their youth side Celta Fortuna to develop and prepare him the senior Celta Vigo team. He signed on a free transfer and will stay in the Spanish side till 2029.

“He couldn’t have gone to a better team. The football club is excellent. For a young player, you have a good pathway because Celta Vigo produces a lot of good players who find themselves playing in the first team. I had no say or nothing to do with him signing at Celta Vigo,” McCarthy told reporters.

“Try to speak Spanish as quickly as possible. 99 percent in Vigo do not speak English, so he is going to struggle with the language barrier. But the people there are nice. He is in a perfect place.”

Should Kibet eventually rise to play in La Liga, he will become the third Kenyan to play in the Spanish league after McDonald Mariga and Michael Olunga.

Mariga featured for Real Sociedad on loan from Inter Milan in 2011-2012, while Olunga played for Girona – also on loan from Guizhou Zhicheng – in the 2017-2018 season.

Kibet shot to prominence in August 2023 while representing Kitale’s St. Anthony’s Boys at the 2023 Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Games in Kakamega when he led his team to the title.

That earned him the sports personality award for the month of August 2024. In 2023, he moved to Spain to join Gimnàstic de Tarragona. He was included in the Kenya U20 team taking part in the 2024 CECAFA U-20 Championship in October 2024, in Tanzania.