Juan Mata

London is a very big city, Manchester is calmer. I live near the training ground, so I do things around there in the countryside, but I really like Manchester's Northern Quarter, where they have nice coffee shops and live music places.

Winning the World Cup is something that will always be inside your mind and inside your body.

Football is not about money but emotions.

Every player thinks he's Maradona when he joins a big club. That happens to all of us, but then you start to notice it in the younger players. You see kids who think they're rock stars, wearing extravagant clothes and driving fancy cars... and sometimes you have to take them aside and have a word.

The business side of football makes it seem as though the owners are now more important than the fans.

I live in a bubble. Real life is the one my friends live. They've had to look for work, sign on to the dole, and emigrate. That's normal life now. My life as a footballer is not normal.

I like the Common Goal initiative, the vision of football as a tool for social change and the power football has to improve the world.

I think every footballer, after 20 years playing football, the first thing that comes to your mind is to relax.

You never know what can happen in football and in life.

We have professional football, but we also have a beautiful game which, wherever you go, can be used as a social tool for change. Football has an unmatchable power.

For me, football is what I love to do most. It is also the thing I'm better doing than anything else.

Real Madrid wanted me to join their academy. It was a big decision to move when I was 15. It's a key age for a youngster, and you're close to your friends and family. But I moved to Madrid, and my family stayed at home. It made me mature earlier than normal. That was a very big decision, and it changed me in a positive way.

If I was 19, 20, 18, and I had the chance to play with first-team players of Manchester United, I will definitely try to take my chance.

For me, good football is not about how many skills you show or how many players you beat. It's about making the right decision every time you have the ball.

Through Common Goal, we're creating a collaborative way for football to give back to society.

I've been in England for a while, but it's true that at times you miss home, your family, your friends.

I'm at the fantastic club that is Manchester United, one of the biggest in the world.

There are some examples in my career when my family was more concerned than me. So every time I win or I score, I always think about them.

Everything depends on the club more than the player: the quantities, the paperwork.

As I always say, one of the best things of football is that the game is testing you all the time.