Athlete

For me, good football is not about how many skills you show or how many players you beat. It's about making the right decision every time you have the ball.

I consider myself as this kind of attacking midfielder, trying to find the gaps between the opposition midfielders and defenders and produce what the team needs between the lines.

I see children now, and many things surprise me: they ask me about my boots and why I don't dye my hair. I wonder, 'Why don't you talk to me about how to cross the ball, control it, the position of the body when I strike the ball?'

Chelsea is a top club, and I have many friends there, but you cannot turn down the chance to join Manchester United.

When you are in a club like Manchester United, you have a lot of pressure around you.

I admire Arsenal and the philosophy that the young players have. Liverpool, with their Spanish players, they also have an incredible squad. And Manchester United and Chelsea are teams that are very big, like Real Madrid and Barcelona, with money and incredible players.

Who is shorter, me or David Silva? I don't know. Probably him.

Obviously, when you've made a great assist... is a great feeling, but obviously, the best feeling is to score yourself.

I can tell you as a Manchester United player how big this club is and how you feel the repercussions of everything you do. It happens to everyone. It happened to me when I came.

One of the first lessons I learned in football is that it takes a team to win a game.

Football's incomparable to anything else - perhaps only music has that same power to transform society.

I'll always be proud to say I played at Chelsea, at Valencia, in the youth system at Real Madrid, in the youth system at Real Oviedo, and for United.

The business side of football makes it seem as though the owners are now more important than the fans.

I like creative players and players who do different things.

With respect to the world of football, I earn a normal wage. But compared to 99.9% of Spain and the rest of the world, I earn an obscene amount.

I don't like to think about others losing or not performing well. No, no - I'm not that kind of person.

A coach depends on whether I take a corner well or finish a chance in front of goal, and really, what influence does he have over this when it happens?

I'm a professional. I have to do my best.

For a kid that just played for Oviedo, to then going to play for a team like Real Madrid, it felt fantastic. But being taken out of my family home and moving away alone, into the residence Madrid have for young players, it was a bit difficult. But as time passed, I got used to it.

I had the luck of being in Madrid. They sign some of the best players in the world, and that really leaves fewer opportunities for young players.