I had four great years with Jurgen and I like him as a person and as a coach.

If I don't get out of my comfort zone, I will never change and never improve.

I believe in life's challenges and I always try to challenge myself.

I am still a big fan of Jogi Low, and not just in terms of the sporting side of things. This applies to his character, his leadership qualities and his humanity.

I have had almost only positive experiences in Germany. I want to be very clear about that.

There are people who look up to me, but the young Muslim kids, especially in Germany, they also need those closest to them to show them a good path, give them targets in their life. I grew up with a lot of these kids and they didn't have the support I had from my family or friends. Not just in terms of football, but everything else.

I take care of who I am and what I do, treating people in the nicest way possible and everything comes back in life.

To be honest, I'm not really into politics.

In a World Cup every single game is important; you are not allowed to make mistakes, not allowed to fail. If you want to win, you have to be there every game.

Everyone has his or her own opinion and I always welcome criticism. That's why we have freedom of expression and that's also what I stand for - but I won't stand for insults.

I feel privileged to have grown up in Germany so it was a heavy blow for me to be portrayed as somebody who isn't integrated and who doesn't live his life according to German values.

I had four fantastic years with Jurgen. We won a lot of things together, we lived through many different experiences together, we had our lows, too.

The Champions League is one of the biggest club stages you can reach and I think for players it is an honour to be part of it. It certainly is for me. You just enjoy being a part of it playing against the best clubs in Europe.

I think struggles are part of our profession. And it's always about overcoming these kind of moments.

Ballack had a certain level of aggression in his game, and a strong mentality.

There was a guy I found incredible in training. A player I thought 'What is he doing? Is he only 18 or 19?' That player was Mario Gotze. He did things in training that made me think 'Wow. If he doesn't make it all the way to the top then I don't know!'

Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Joachim Low... How many players can say they've had coaches like them?

Pep is at a very high tactical level. A teacher who wants to know every detail of the game.

You shouldn't want to imitate people if it doesn't fit with your own style.

I think in the title race it's crucial to be defensively as solid as possible.

Kun Aguero is an amazing player. He has scored so many goals and he does a great job.

I enjoy playing at Manchester City.

In football, you never know. There could be one or two injuries that crop up and you may be needed so I always try to prepare myself as though I will be playing in the next game or that I need to be available - that's my philosophy, even when I'm not 100 per cent.

Even though we are at the top level, we all make mistakes. We play the game, and mistakes are part of the game.