A biography for Jay-Jay Okochahasn’t been written yet.
“My advantage is my skill so I have to use it.”
“I should have got a medal at Neunkirchen, my first club in Germany.”
“I experienced life in a struggling team at Eintracht Frankfurt, but I was still young then and didn't understand what it meant to be relegated.”
“I know there are millions of football fans who love this game, but can see the world outside it.”
“There were very few TV sets when I grew up... We could not see matches and did not know too many players. Only Pele was a household name and he was the one most children idolised.”
“I think it is also the most demanding league; the pace of the game in the EPL is something else and rightly for me is maybe the best league in the world.”
“Football is a show and you have to enjoy what you are doing.”
“I am very competitive.”
“I wanted to play in the Premier League and Bolton offered me that opportunity at that time and that was why I signed for Bolton.”
“If you score goals late on it's not the sign of a lucky team, it's the sign of a fit team who are close together and fight for each other.”
“I can proudly say that I had no scandal throughout my career. And there was no serious injury worries because of what I was taught how to live off the pitch. It was very important.”
“Football has an important place in Russia.”
“People wonder why I chose to come to Bolton. There's a different pressure and mentality here to PSG, where we were expected to challenge at the top every year, but look at our squad - quality throughout.”
“So, we know that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I still believe that is the good thing about Nigerian players. We can always spring up so many surprises.”
“I don't mind if we play ugly and win, as long as we win.”
“People in Nigeria weren't happy that I went to Qatar. They said 'why did you go there of all places?' They missed watching me on television but sometimes you have to think about yourself and your future as well.”
“I am proud of the part I have played in the development of Bolton.”
“Traditionally it's been difficult for Africans to play over here, mainly because the African calendar is very different to that in Europe. Most of the coaches over here can't accept that we have to go back home to play at the Nations' Cup for a month while the season is still on over here. That made people reluctant to sign Africans.”
“I often come across Russians and they're all interested in football.”
“I realized at a very young age that I had a gift to do special things with the ball.”