Per Mertesacker

“I was extremely lucky with my career and I want to finish on a high.”

“You never stop working, you never stop doing things because there's someone behind you - in a respectful way - who is giving absolutely everything in every single training session.”

“As long as you are winning it is a good day.”

“If you just protect and you have no chances on the break and you miss one chance to kill the game, then it's difficult in the Premier League to win any game.”

“Obviously, everyone looks at whether we bring young footballers into the first team, that's one of the goals. But I wouldn't discard someone who is successful in life, that's big. The hall of fame in the academy should be a wide variety of stories.”

“You always have to remain professional. I have always done so.”

“When you step up as a young talent, you need to challenge the old lads.”

“Mesut and I played together at Werder Bremen and Arsenal for so many years. There is no other player that I shared so much time with. We were important for each other.”

“The amount of staff we have in academies is... I've never seen anything like it. It's good to take care of the players but sometimes I get confused by the number of people who have an impact on one kid - we're talking 100 people or more. It's quite a heavy load.”

“Living in London is very different to living in a little town in Germany.”

“Arsenal has always been special for me.”

“I never heard anything about 'potatoes' or 'kanaken' during my time in the national team. However I have been called 'potato,' too.”

“Arsene Wenger is a coach who has a very special personality. He has an experience that not many coaches have, and all at one club, at Arsenal.”

“Youngsters need self-esteem, simple targets in life which give energy. In the academy they can be so easily distracted by so many other things it's amazing.”

“We have to present ourselves as a unit, no matter what happens. That is what Arsenal stands for.”

“The more people that write me off, the stronger I get. That's my feeling.”

“My home town called me a citizen of honour. So I'm a special citizen now.”

“The best players in the world play in the Premier League and therefore it is the best league.”

“Mentality is a big part of every game, when you take the initiative and when you drop.”

“You know what you have achieved and what you have been through.”