I am a normal guy. I muck about; I play around with my nieces. The only thing is I need to be professional when I am out and conduct myself in a certain way. I still live a normal lifestyle.

I prefer playing up front, really, because I feel like if I make the right run, or if I get the ball at the right time, I can just be one-on-one with the defender, and then if I manage to get past the centre-back, it's one-on-one with the 'keeper.

If Man United and Liverpool fans feel better by calling me a black monkey in my messages... feel free to carry on if it makes your day better.

With the way my career has gone, I've had ups and downs, and I'm thankful for going through what I've gone through because now I'm a stronger person.

In football, time and space are the same thing.

When I was going off to training and matches at Arsenal, my mum wouldn't be on the side cheering me on: she'd be working so I'd have football boots. I saw that you had to work hard if you wanted to do anything in life.

Nobody should imagine that they could go to England and change the way that football is played there. Just as nobody should imagine that they could come to Italy and change the culture or the DNA of Italian football. Or even the DNA of the club where they work.

Every Olympic athlete prepares differently. For me, I am 100 percent into the sport. And if I decide to really make a crucial career decision to say, 'This is something I want to do,' I want to leave no stone unturned in my preparation.