Photo: vovnews

V-League club Song Lam Nghe An plan to open a football academy as part of an ongoing project with the assistance of the English Premier League's Liverpool FC next year, announced the team chairman Nguyen Hong Thanh on Dec. 29.

The coastal district of Nghi Loc has been earmarked for the project, near the beach town of Cua Lo – 25km from Vinh City in the central province of Nghe An.

"We have finalised procedures to begin construction next year. The academy will be aimed at developing international standard players not only for Vietnam, but for the whole of Southeast Asia," Thanh told the English-language daily Vietnam News on Dec. 29.

"The academy will recruit talented kids from across the country from the age of nine," Thanh said.

It will be Vietnam 's second such facility in co-operation with a Premier League club. Three years ago, Hoang Anh Gia Lai also built an academy in a 4 million USD project with Arsenal.

Source: VNA