Vincent Kompany

“On any longball, people try to outjump each other. I don't mind a big jump, but to be honest, the only thing you have to do is fight for the spot where the ball is going to land.”

“As wealthy as you are, nothing, nothing, nothing guarantees you that through a breakdown of relationship, your kids won't end up on the streets. It's nothing to do with wealth: sometimes it can be down to other things, like the breakdown of relationships.”

“It's a mistake to think that there's a difference between someone on the street and someone not on the street.”

“Chelsea are one of the most exciting teams in the Premier League.”

“I don't want to change how I am, how I play, so if it means taking more risks, it's always going to be the case, and that's fine for me.”

“What annoys me most is it is so easy to focus on negatives all the time. All you hear is a lot of people - whether it is industry leaders or politicians - complaining about everything. I don't deny things are not always perfect, but the stage it gets is huge compared with the simple things that make people happy, like winning a football match.”

“I always believe that luck and faith will be on my side more than the other side.”

“I am 100% Congolese and 100% Belgian. I am very proud of it.”

“I would say Pep Guardiola's No. 1 quality is that he sees the technical and tactical aspect of a game really fast.”

“Whichever work you do, people go through life having several priorities. I know my football is what got me here. The work I do for SOS or my charity work in general has always been a priority for me, and then my family is a priority as well, so you set yourself different things, and they just balance each other out.”

“There is a lot of talent and a lot of good things happening and coming from Molenbeek, but unfortunately, it has had to deal with a very, very long time of being ignored, really, and it was very easy, even in the neighbourhood where I grew up, to just fall off the grid, and nobody would notice it.”

“I think, mainly, you always look to keep your strong points in the team.”

“You can't compare Barcelona and Bayern Munich to Manchester City.”

“Youth is always the future of any country.”

“It's funny: one of the strongest parts of my game today is heading, and that only really developed when I started playing at the professional level. In the youth teams, all we did was passing.”

“Brussels is sort of a mini London in the sense that if you think about putting a football pitch in London, people laugh at you. There is just no space.”

“The main thing for me is to consider sport at an equal level as you would consider mathematics or poetry at school. It's another place where you can send your kids; they can have fun, but you can expect them to have good teachers, and you can expect them to progress.”

“Someone might come close to dying, and they'll enjoy life much more than everyone else. I came close to the death of my sports career, and I enjoy everything coming my way.”

“When I read or study, I don't do it for the degree - if I fail, it doesn't matter, but it just takes me out of this world where you're the centre of attention all the time. You just become a normal bloke when you're setting yourself those kinds of targets.”

“If a team prepares well, a good team becomes even better.”