Edin Dzeko

Having been raised during the war, I know very well how childhood hampered by displacement, poverty, violence, and fear looks like.

I was six when the war started. It was terrible. My house was destroyed, so we went to live with my grandparents. The whole family was there, maybe 15 people all staying in an apartment about 35m square. It was very hard.

I think, for every player, it is important he knows the manager believes in him, and it is important he has the confidence of the manager. That helps you to find the best form.

For every striker, it's important to have the confidence of the coach.

When you score in the first minutes, everything changes.

Regardless of what I was and who I am, above all, the most important thing is to remain human.

Every time I see a paper, for what seems like a year or more, there is a story saying that I am leaving City or that I want to go. But I've never said that, so the stories don't come from me. I've always wanted to stay at City and fight for my place.

I'm really happy here at City. It's a second home to me, so it was an easy decision to stay for the long term. I knew from the beginning when I started here that I wanted to stay for a long time - I can't see any place better than here.

Every player needs time to settle in and to get used to a new club, from knowing the league to the other players - everything.

The secret? Hard work. And more hard work.

That was always special, playing Manchester United. I loved the feeling of the derby, that pressure, the atmosphere around it. And I did have some good matches there, didn't I?