Per Mertesacker

I was talented at a young age, but I still had to grow and develop further.

Mesut and I played together at Werder Bremen and Arsenal for so many years. There is no other player that I shared so much time with. We were important for each other.

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

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

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.

There are still so many issues around young players, and we need to find the right way for them. What is really important? What does he need for his self-belief? For his development?

It's hard work to do important games for the club every three or four days, that is very physical.

I want to make an impact on young people's lives and be part of their future no matter what they do because I have seen that all the very talented players at 15, 16 still had very little chance to be successful in football.