Marcel Desailly

“The problem with certain Englishmen is drinking to excess, the systematic search for drunkenness.”

“If you leave Juventus - I know Serie A is not the best league but it is a prestigious club - you need to go to Real Madrid.”

“For me, Aubameyang will be the best player to adapt to the Conte system.”

“By leading Les Bleus to a second triumph, 20 years after being our captain when we won the World Cup in France, Didier became only the third man to have won the competition as both player and manager.”

“Didier was always mature for his age. You might find it hard to believe now because he is not the biggest guy around, but when he was a young teenager he was actually physically ahead of most of his generation. We caught up with him, of course, and then most of us overtook him.”

“I am glad to learn UNICEF considers sport an important part of education.”

“It is possible to make a slow start and still win it - look at Spain in 2010, beaten by Switzerland in their first match but world champions a few weeks later.”

“Why does everyone always think a player must completely re-evaluate the state of his career just because he has not played in the first team for a while?”

“In 2002 we went into the first World Cup in Asia as reigning champions and we had also added the European crown in 2000, playing better football and with more confidence in our ability.”

“Obviously, competitive matches are useful for a player, but it's not the be all and end all.”

“Italians are hot and you feel the passion more there than in England. Anglo-Saxon people are more distant. It's not that you are less friendly, just more reserved and distant.”

“There's no price for experience.”

“When you are a coach you want your best player.”

“If Ronaldo is on fire, nobody can stop him.”

“Winning is beautiful.”

“Every big club in Europe treats its players well, but Milan's organisation is something else. They really make you feel at home.”

“I never really had the choice of choosing France or Ghana. I would have liked to play for Ghana though, just once.”

“Out of 100, Marseille was 40 and Milan was 100. It's that simple. Organisation, the stadium, 82,000 people in the San Siro for every match, Milanello, the training camp, the food, the dress, Milan is the fashion city of the world, the international exposure that I experienced; it's a different world.”

“I nearly signed for Monaco because it was a more stable club. My family were in favour of Monaco. At Marseille everything is more crazy and there's a lot more pressure. But that's what appealed to me.”

“Mbappe can play down the middle but he is the world champion from being out wide.”