Alphonso Davies

“As a young footballer, it's not easy to come from Canada and then try to play in one of the best teams in the world. It takes time, especially at a young age. It takes a lot of patience to be able to play.”

“Growing up, I loved Messi. I love how he dribbles, how he plays the game, it just makes it look so easy and it makes it look so fun.”

“I'm a little bit nervous, but life comes with challenges and I'm ready to take on this one. To be able to sign for a club like Bayern Munich, it's exciting stuff.”

“Every day before I went to school, I'd already looked after my siblings. In the evenings, I often put them to bed. It was a hard time, but at the same time we were doing very well. We were happy. My family is everything for me.”

“School is very important to me and my family. I'm trying my best to finish it, but if the time comes when I can't, then I guess I'll have to finish it later in my career.”

“My dream was to become a big player in Europe. But most of the stars there are either from Europe or places like Brazil and Argentina. How many come from Edmonton, where you're only supposed to play hockey? None. So yeah, I had a lot of doubts. I wondered if I had gone as far as I could.”

“You'll move from big brother to the adult world faster by cooking food for your younger siblings while your peers are playing video games.”

“Life is too short to be angry or sad for long.”

“Canada hasn't really been a top footballing country in the world, but I think the next generation of players coming through, I think we can really change that.”

“I came out as a winger, I played as a winger a couple of games.”

“I sent a message to Drake telling him he should follow me on Instagram, then two minutes later someone tweeted at me saying that he had followed me and I went to see if he actually had and he did. When I posted a video, he sent me a message after saying, 'Congrats King,' and I think I lost it, I was so excited.”

“I want to stay in Germany and with Bayern for as long as possible.”

“Being at home gets boring. Everyone knows that.”

“I have a lot of people that are down to earth around me.”

“When I was growing up, I felt like no one gave Canadians a chance. And now that they see we have quality in Canada and it's amazing to see.”

“Canada's known as a hockey country and now we've proven that we can also play football as well.”

“Being an inspiration to other people and having people look up to me, me being so young, is incredible.”

“Every game I play, I play to the best of my ability and play like it's my last.”

“Being a left back is a very important role, I'm happy to play there. Every time I get the call for the national team or Bayern to play left back, I'm willing to do it.”

“I really look up to my parents to guide me. They treat me well, they give me good food to eat.”