Victor Wanyama has spoken of his desire to coach at Celtic one day.
Brought to Glasgow as an unknown by Neil Lennon in 2011, he established himself as a fan favourite over his two years before moving to Southampton for £13 million.
He is perhaps best remembered for scoring the opening goal in Celtic’s famous win over Barcelona, going on to reach the Champions League final with Tottenham.
He has now started working towards his coaching badges, and surprisingly to the Hoops fans, cites Wilfried Nancy as a key inspiration.
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Victor Wanyama: I’d love to start my coaching journey at Celtic
Speaking about his coaching career, Wanyama told Citizen TV in Kenya:“I have exams for UEFA A License next month.
“I have done my UEFA B and would love to start my coaching journey in Scotland with Celtic.
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“Coaching is part of the things that are good for any footballer. Not everyone would want to coach but they can join anything related to the game,” he added.
Asked about which coach left the biggest impression on him, Wanyama said: “All the coaches that coached me, the likes of Mauricio [Pochettino] and also Ronald [Koeman]…
“I would say my last coach at Montreal. His name was Will, Wilfried Nancy. I’ve seen him grow as a coach, and he really, really taught me a lot.
“And from then, I was learning from him, and I saw I can also learn and make my own history, like what he has done for that club at that time.”
Wanyama captained Montreal under Nancy, winning silverware in the Canadian Championship. The following season, they achieved the club’s highest-ever regular season finish.
That’s enough about him, though…
Wanyama was one of a number of Celtic players sold to St Mary’s in the mid-2010s, along with Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk.
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All three of the trio were signed by Lennon with the help of talent-spotter John Park, in a successful period of recruitment for the club.
Mikael Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre and Tom Rogic were among the other excellent additions from overseas under Lennon’s watch.
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