I always dedicate my goals to my mum. I lost her a couple of years ago. She was my biggest supporter and is always with me.

There's so many kids out there and it's such a cut-throat world. I've seen a lot of my mates, you know, who are better players than me at a certain age, and they're not in football now.

Of course, there will be few people who are sympathetic but you don't become a great team overnight, no matter how much money you have at your disposal.

I don't know if we'd have been as dominant as we were last season. The new things, the new ideas the manager brought in everyone took them on board so well. He is special.

My dad shaped the footballing side of me, and Mum shaped me as a person. I've always been very close to her - we've only ever had one argument, and that was over something stupid when I was 13.

I'm a very private person, and you have a lot of people looking into your personal life, away from football. That's the one thing that I don't like, but I always remember how lucky we are that we're playing football.

In terms of not retiring? I don't want to leave and think to myself, "Maybe I should have stayed a bit longer". I'm dwelling on it. I have turned down a few Premier League offers. But the fact is, after being at Chelsea for so long and a year with Manchester City, I don't want to get involved in a relegation dogfight.