Chiek Kouyate is as passionate about life as a Hammer as it gets.
But his home town of Dakar remains very much part of his life and after setting up an academy in there he dreams of seeing one of his admirers one day making it in the Premier League.
He said:“The idea of people like me in the Premier League does motivate people in Senegal Not just your own family but anyone who needs help.
“Everyone in the country loves football, Senegal is a football country. “There are two or three million youngsters trying to get into the game and so we can try and help as many as possible.
“There is a team called Africa Foot, a new academy where I grew up, it has a new training ground which I set up with my agent. There are players there who want to play in Europe and it is run by my former coach.
“The last time I went back in July, I saw many happy youngsters playing football. It would be a dream for one of the players to come and play in England, for West Ham. That is their dream and it is my dream for them. It is not easy but who knows?”
