I can't stress the importance of working hard enough, work on all aspects of your game. If you does that and you have the ability, you'll come through.

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.

Everyone's got unfinished business with Barcelona. They're the greatest team in the world.

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.

When I was at school, I wanted to be a lawyer.

There's a few ugly ones. Carlo is probably the best looking [on chelsea players]

Footballers do get a hard time, and there is a lot of generalization going on. When you get to meet players and know them as lads, it's always a bit different.