NAIROBI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- A Kenyan footballer who plays in the English Premier League (EPL) Victor Wanyama on Thursday called for the setting up of football academies in order to tap football talent in the East African nation.

Wanyama, who plays for London-based Tottenham Hotspurs, said in Nairobi that football schools initiate children at a young age thereby making them to develop interest in the game at a time when they are still able to follow instructions.

"The football scene in Kenya needs academies if the national team ever hopes to compete against the best in the world, it needs to have a feeder pool where players graduate to the national level," Wanyama said while conducting a training football training session for children aged between 9-14 years

He said initiating kids to football at an early age will help the development of the sport and Kenyan players.

The defensive midfielder, whose team finished in third place during the last season behind Manchester City and Manchester United, has scored a total of five goals for Tottenham since he joined the team in 2017.

"I am settled and happy at Spurs and leaving the team has not yet occurred in my mind at the moment," the national team skipper told reporters.

The Tottenham midfielder said by engaging with the children in a training session, he was giving back to the community and according them a morale-boosting moment.

"Before I go back to England for the start of the next season, I promise to do something big for the children, even though I have not yet made up my mind what it would be," Wanyama said.