“It was difficult because Liverpool has been and always will be very special. It is in my heart because I have lived very intense things there. It was really difficult to tell the fans what my decision was, but sometimes you have to follow your feelings and that was my feeling at that moment.
“The fans always made it very clear what they wanted and the support I had from the first day I arrived to the last day was absolutely top and I can’t have any complaints about that. But it was my decision and my feeling.”
“It was quite a long summer with so many meetings, so many talks and so many rumours,” he said. “I would have preferred to say goodbye properly, like so many other teammates had already done, but because of the circumstances it didn’t happen.”
“Since I arrived I have known so many big, big legends as Kenny, Hansen, Souness, Fowler, Stevie, Carra – these will be forever. Sami Hyypia as well, for me he was a big example and someone I learned a lot from. I don’t think I belong there but if I am a step below them I am happy to be there.
“Stevie and Carra are very good friends. They were good teammates because from the first day I felt I got on with them well. The importance they had in the changing room, it was very important for me to have a good relationship with them. Being from Liverpool, knowing how things were at that moment and winning the Champions League in the first year made the relationship stronger. That is why they are still very good friends.
“I always had full respect for Liverpool before I signed because I had heard all the stories and the tradition that they had. But once you are involved, if you like football and like the passion from the fans and the important things that matter in football then you will love Liverpool. That is what it is all about, about football, about respecting the game and about supporting the team and you can live that in Liverpool better than anywhere else.”
“At the beginning of the season I was feeling for the players because you could see things were not going very well and confidence was low at that moment. But things changed, the club settled down with new ownership. With Kenny’s arrival the belief and the confidence of the team looks much better. I am looking forward to next season. It looks like it can be a good season.”
“It’s another stage of my professional career and I am enjoying it so far,” he says. “We are challenging for big things and you want to be at a professional club. So far we are fighting against a great team like Barcelona, they are making it more difficult to win La Liga, for example, but that makes it a greater challenge than it already was.
“I want La Liga because that’s the only trophy I don’t have and is the one I am missing. I missed it in Liverpool and hopefully I will be able to make it in Madrid. The Champions League is obviously the Champions League, but I want La Liga.
“I am happy here. It’s a big club, we have a great manager and a good team. It’s been a very intense season. The cup final against Barcelona was really hard, the Champions League semi-final games against them were hard as well, but we kept fighting, but at the end we couldn’t make it. Even just winning the cup, we are not absolutely pleased with the season but we feel we have progressed and are looking forward to next season.”
“I was for five seasons so pleased and so privileged to be part of the Liverpool family and I just want to say thank you to you all.”
No comments:
Post a Comment