Quotes from Vincent Kompany

I want my kids to go and see the world and understand they are privileged, but it doesn't mean they don't have the right to speak up and see what is happening.

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.

I will say it loud and clear: at Manchester City, it is all about what you choose to look at. If you look at the money spent on players, you will only ever see that side of City. If you look at the bigger plan, which is investment in the community, facilities, and youth teams, you realise there is heart and soul in this club.

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

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

I want to be involved as a fan, as a player, as a manager, as a technical director, as a groundsman. It doesn't matter. Whichever way the club sees me helping them out, I'll always be around.

Pep's tactical and technical assessments are like nothing I've ever seen before, and I think that's why people enjoy to see him fail.

Ultimately if you can win playing a certain way, then why not do it?

I'm an adopted Mancunian. This city has grown on me. I have a wife from Manchester and have three kids who think they are more Mancuniuan than anything else, which is a problem I need to address!

It doesn't take a lot to imagine what City means to me: it's been my life for the last almost ten years now. I'm grateful for what the club has given me, and I've given everything to the club.

Sir Alex, one of the best managers of all time. After 26 years of success in the game, we all owe him a tribute.

My mum was always more pushing me towards the academic side; she wasn't really interested in me having a professional football career.

I was extremely competitive, so for me becoming a footballer was not necessarily because it was about being the best - it was about winning.

Once you achieve a goal and you are on that high, you have to consciously pull yourself in to say, 'I need to have the same hunger and desire as when I had nothing.' That's the hardest thing to do in life. That is getting challenged every single day once you win titles.

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.

Only the very best clubs are able to pass the baton of continuity down through the generations.

Over the past decade, I've been lucky to have witnessed and played a part in Manchester City's rise as a club and a brand.

Racism is felt the most definitely in grassroots football.

I find football much more powerful than what grown-ups want it to be. It's a community to me; it's something very meaningful in the life of many, many people and especially the youth. And, therefore, I think it can bring social cohesion.

I'd rather give up most of my wealth to have the guarantee that I can carry on working for the rest of my life.

You are not guaranteed to be part of that story if you don't perform.

I was desperate to leave Hamburg. The club was awesome, don't get me wrong, but I had a personal issue with one of the board members. He was desperate to get me out. The first club came calling, and it was Man City.

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.

I have dreamed of Brazil all my life. As a child, I had videos of Brazil, of their World Cup wins, of Pele, and of all the big players.