Wanyama moved to Spurs on June 23rd, 2016, after the North London club announced that they had reached an agreement with Southampton for the transfer of the box-to-box midfielder.
At that time, Tottenham were under manager Mauricio Pochettino, who had previously worked with Wanyama at Southampton.
Wanyama, nicknamed the ‘Lion of Muthurwa’, scored his first goal for Tottenham on his home debut against Crystal Palace, in the 82nd minute of a 1-0 league win. The goal made him the 138th different player to score for the club, extending their record for the most variety of goalscorers for a single club in the Premier League.
However, at the end of August 2019, Tottenham announced they had agreed to transfer Wanyama to Club Brugge for £13 million but the Kenyan midfielder raised concerns over the move and the deal broke down.
On March 3rd, 2020, Tottenham finally confirmed that they had agreed to transfer Wanyama to Major League Soccer club Montreal Impact (now CF Montreal), where he would become a Designated Player. He left Spurs after managing 69 matches in all competitions and scoring six goals.
Tottenham last won a trophy on February 24th, 2008 - a 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in the League Cup. It was the fourth time Tottenham had won the League Cup, which was later renamed the Carling Cup, and now the Carabao Cup.
Would have loved to win a trophy for Tottenham
According to Wanyama, who is currently clubless having left Montreal on January 1st, 2025 after his contract extension expired, the group of players at Spurs were all desperate to bring a trophy to the club's cabinet but it never happened.
“You know unfortunately there is one thing that we would have loved to do for the club, it was to win a trophy but we didn’t do it with our group,” Wanyama told Tottenham TV before the Premier League game against Manchester United, which Spurs won 1-0 on Sunday, February 16th.
“I believe with the current squad, the group that they have right now, they will do something special for the team one day. During our time, we had a good team and we always wanted to improve in each game, so every weekend when we went out we wanted to prove that we can stay at the top.
“We wanted to show that Tottenham is a big club, and that is how it should be competing every weekend and making sure that the club is at the top and it was fun, the most thing that we had was fun, go there have fun and the rest was just following us.”
On his return to North London, Wanyama, who made his debut for Kenya’s senior national team in May 2007 at just 15 in a friendly against Nigeria, said: “It feels great to be back at North London, seeing the stadium (London Stadium), once more again, remembering the atmosphere here, especially the home games, is a great feeling, and it is just great to be back again, it clearly gives me good memories.”
During his time at Spurs, Wanyama formed a formidable midfield partnership with Belgian Mousa Dembele. Asked how he felt playing alongside the player, Wanyama said: “It was a good bond, it was a good connection, me and Mousa, we enjoyed what we were doing, and we were complimenting each other very well and you know, we miss those moments.”
On his first-ever goal for Spurs, which came against Crystal Palace in a Premier League battle, Wanyama said: “I remember that was at White Hart Lane, my first goal for the club, and it was also a last-minute goal and we ended up winning the game, it was a special goal.”
Speaking about his his last goal for Tottenham at White Hart Lane before Spurs moved to Wembley Stadium and then London Stadium, Wanyama, who was named Kenyan captain in 2013, explained: “This was against Manchester United and we won the game 2-1, me and Harry Kane were on the scoresheet, a special goal also, a special moment, the last game at the Lane.”
On his cracker against Liverpool, Wanyama was asked what he thought while running towards the ball, Wanyama replied: “When I was running towards the ball, I just thought that this is rolling really well, you know, the ball is just begging me to hit it hard, so I hit it one time and it went onto the top corner.”
The equalizing goal against Liverpool to make it 2-2 was voted the Premier League Goal of the Month. Asked whether he ever watches the goal again during his free time, Wanyama offered: “I always watch it, for some reason, it always comes up when I go to social media, it is always coming up, so I do always click (laughs), and put love on it because it was a special goal too.”
Wanyama continued: “On my way home, I met Martin Tyler (commentator during the Liverpool game) at the airport, and he told me, what a nice goal! I responded to him. He gave me a good comment and I was really very happy about it.”
Wanyama was asked how he felt after scoring the final goal at White Hart Lane, as Tottenham bid farewell to the stadium. The goal was the winner against Man United.
“You know scoring in the last game against a team like Man United, and last game at the Lane, it was a very big deal because you know closing the stadium with a goal, always will be remembered, and it was a proud moment closing with a win, closing the pitch with a win, that was the biggest achievement for me.”
At Montreal, Wanyama made his competitive debut at Stade Olympique in the first leg of a quarter-final in the CONCACAF Champions League, where he was named in manager Thierry Henry's starting side.
He provided an assist to Saphir Taider - with whom Wanyama was briefly teammates at Southampton in 2014 - in a 1-2 defeat by Honduran champions C.D. Olimpia. He later captained Montreal to a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC in the 2021 Canadian Championship Final.
In September 2021, after being repeatedly overlooked for selection during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Wanyama announced his retirement from international football, marking the end of his 14-year duty. He managed 64 appearances for Kenya and scored six goals.
