My goal is always to improve what has been done the previous season and also collectively seek to do better than the year past.

We used to have championships in the streets with my friends, and whoever scored a goal was the happiest boy in the world. Now, every time that I score, I go back to being a child: the happiness of scoring a goal is unexplainable.

The Ballon d'Or is one of my objectives, but it will be complicated so long as Ronaldo and Messi are around.

I prefer games with many goals.

I am very proud of being Brazilian, but I am also thankful for having the chance to play in Germany for four and a half years. I have completely changed the way I play football because Germany is a tougher, faster game which is more tactical with tighter marking.

We know how in football everything changes quickly. It doesn't take too long to lose one game.

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.

Football is more disputed in England than it is in Italy. Every match is a very hard match because the referee doesn't blow his whistle as much as in Italy, and every team plays against each other like it is a final. I enjoy it more in England because you have to think quicker. The pace of the game is faster, so you don't have much time to think.