Ferdinand: We’ll show who’s the boss

“Walking around in town, you see more and more blue shirts than you probably ever would have seen over the last 10 years. But success sometimes brings people out of the woodwork, so fingers crossed, we can delay that and make sure that we get this title sewn up this season.”

 

“Who knows? We’ll have to wait and see, but in an ideal world, we’ll have it sewn up by the time we go there. I don’t expect it to be finished by the time we go their stadium. Every game is a cup final now and every result now is going to sway the title this way or that.”

Messi: A dream came true

“The truth is that I am overjoyed. I never dreamed that one day I could be Barcelona’s top scorer. I don’t know if it was my best goal. When a game finishes, the first goal I scored for Barcelona, just like the last one and just like all the others, they are all very special to me.”

 

“I have always wanted to repay Barcelona for all they have done for me. It makes me very proud to be part of the club’s history. I could not have done this without the support of my companions. I am delighted to see that in my own people are happy for me.”

Van Geel: Kuyt, what a player

“I would love to welcome Dirk at Feyenoord as soon as possible. He fits in here more than anybody else. He is more than welcome at the club. However, I do not think that it’s realistic to believe that he could return this summer.”

 

Kuyt’s agent: “Feyenoord know that Dirk will join them once he returns to Netherlands. But when? It’s impossible to answer that question. We are just waiting to see what happens at Liverpool now and what’s coming his way. We will make a decision on his future after that.”

Robinho: Real Madrid didn’t respect me enough

“I had some great moments there, but my farewell was a disappointment. Real wanted to buy someone else and all of a sudden they were no longer interested in me.”

 

“I feel really sorry for the way I left Madrid, but the fans don’t always understand what happens in these cases. The deal eventually fell through and the club was not happy. I did not feel valued and wanted to leave.”

Benitez: I wanted Alves and Jovetic at Liverpool

“Daniel Alves was our first option on the right side. The problem that we had was that I had to decide to bring Alves as a winger when he was an offensive full-back. It was a difficult decision as we had money at the time for only just one striker or a winger/full-back. We signed a striker – the striker was Kuyt, who to be fair has turned out to be a fantastic contributor to the club.”

 

“Jovetic was also our target but we didn’t have the money. My idea was to play Mascherano, Lucas, Gerrard, Aquilani – two of these four players in the middle and Jovetic between the lines, but we didn’t have the money.”