Quotes from Per Mertesacker

When I was young and visited England with my auntie, as somebody who was football crazy, I simply had to come back with a shirt. I can't remember why, but I came back with an Arsenal shirt and my brother had a Manchester United one.

In the moments before a game starts my stomach turns around as if I had to vomit. Then I have to choke so violently until my eyes tear.

Being in a career and going from highlight to highlight and playing a lot of matches you go through it and think it's normal when you play in front of 60,000 and you almost want to vomit in front of every game.

One thing is for sure, I will give everything every time I put on the Arsenal shirt.

Sometimes I get the feeling that some parents really think their son can pay for their pension, especially being in London.

The heritage of Arsenal, to believe in our academy and to really promote our academy. That's important and that's why I am here as well. I wouldn't waste my time just to know that we are not having successes here at Arsenal.

I was with Bremen in a good situation in the Bundesliga. I was the captain and was involved in everything to do with the club.

We cannot take responsibility for every goal we concede, we all need to do our part across the field to ensure we win as a team.

I want to show on the training pitch that I am ready whenever the manager needs me.

Suarez is like a cheeky boy, he looks like a cheeky boy who can really switch on and off how he wants to be, so that is really something. When he is on the pitch, what is going on around him doesn't bother him.

I never heard anything about 'potatoes' or 'kanaken' during my time in the national team. However I have been called 'potato,' too.

I was lucky to get a professional contract. I wasn't that sort of talent that is considered to be a professional player.

Never tackle, never go down, we've heard it over and over again. You have to try to keep Messi away from the goal and block him with multiple players while being as close to him as possible. He is too quick, too fast, too intense with the ball.

That's why I kept going with my school - I wasn't talented. That's what's the difficulty - you want to define key talents when they are 12, 13 or 14? When I was that age I was nowhere near. People had given up on me.

The interaction between the goalkeeper and the back four has to be top to compete in the Premier League.

If you just protect and you have no chances on the break and you miss one chance to kill the game, then it's difficult in the Premier League to win any game.

I've never had that dream in my head: 'I want to play Bundesliga or Premier League.' I was a fan, but it was never the dream that one day I was going to make it, because a lot of people had told me already that I wouldn't.

Moving to London enables me to fulfil a dream and a further step in my career. The Premier League has always represented a great challenge for me.

The first Premier League season is always tough for anyone.

The best players in the world play in the Premier League and therefore it is the best league.

Goals often come from a mistake much further up the field, yet the analysis and blame will always be on the defence.

I want players to think: 'OK, this has happened now, what is next for me?' That's a very big target because what are academies about nowadays? Is it really just to find one or two players? But what happened to the others? I'm very, very interested in that.

For almost 15 years, professional football is about yourself: How can I improve? How can I make myself better? Before winning a game was the short-term reward that meant everything. Now, I can look at the bigger picture.

I can't even count to five when I say my proper friends in football.