Quotes from Aymeric Laporte

The truth is I like the style of playing the ball out and hitting long passes.

Pep is the best manager in the world. He's always looking to help me get better and improve my game.

I can still improve, and that's what I try to do every day and train strong, and as I said, I try to improve every day and make myself a better player, and that's what I am trying to do.

I've spent my whole life playing football. My father didn't want me to play rugby because he felt it was very hard on the body, so at school, I was encouraged to play football, and that's where everything started.

When I was 11, I went to a sports school about an hour from home and stayed there during the week, only going home at weekends. That was hard, but it prepared me before I left for Bilbao; it made me stronger.

In football, there has always been this idea of having a left-footer and a right-footer in central defence.

Do I want to be the best defender in Europe? Of course. Any defender will tell you that - who wouldn't want to be the best?

There's always a feeling of revenge any time you lose against any team.

The Champions League is probably the biggest goal a footballer can have.

Every training session you take part in, you have to work very hard and train hard because there is no other way to get where you want to be - it's not a secret and not a magic formula - just hard work and application.

My goal is to play at Euro 2016 with France.

If they call me, I would be very happy. It's a dream to play for France.

My dream was to play for France. It's been my dream since childhood.

I could be a world champion.

Maybe apart from the World Cup, the Champions League is one of the most important trophies in the world of football.

I am here to win every possible title, including the Champions League.

I began as a striker, then became a holding midfielder, and now I'm a centre-half. I've done everything except play in goal.

I've renewed four times with Athletic. I've done what I wanted, I've shown confidence in the club and them in me.

It is impressive that Barcelona and Bayern have been interested in me. It is the fruit of my hard work, but I think you have to take a certain lightness because it does not correspond to a reality.

It's clear that winning trophies increases confidence.

I was always clear in my mind what I wanted to do. Becoming a footballer is a dream that is unattainable for most people. We were told that out of maybe a thousand kids, only one would make it as a player, but I worked hard and kept fighting for my dream.

Play with Spain? I think that's already closed, but even so, I opt for France because I'm French. I don't have dual citizenship, and I'm not going to ask for it.

I could have had Spanish nationality, and I didn't take it.

English football is very physical, much more so than Spanish football - I felt it in the first match.