I grew up in Manchester in a big Irish family - there are seven of us in all - so my life has always been about role-playing, about doing anything for a laugh. I'm always joking about; that's the way I am.

It's hard for an up and coming player who has the eyes of Manchester United on them to take that opportunity and then sort of not given the opportunity to break through because of the quality already there.

There was interest from a lot of clubs, not just Manchester United, but as soon as I knew Liverpool were interested, I just felt it was the right club with the right coach. It was right for me to come here.

I think we have really integrated well around Manchester. This is the place where we feel at home. We like it here, we love the English way of life and we prefer it much, much more than the south of Europe.

After spending eight years in Manchester, I received a very warm welcome to Turin. The people are very easy-going, in contrast to other parts of Italy such as Rome or Naples, where passions run much higher.

Manchester City, the club and the fans, they were amazing. But I'm sorry, the city wasn't that nice. I was all the time at home, and I didn't enjoy it. It was raining all the time. I was a little bit upset.

I always said as a kid that I'd like to play for United, and I once spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson about it. We chatted for around 20 minutes, and I told him that my dream was to come here to Manchester United.

In last year's local elections in Manchester a third of those who voted did so by post. It's not just that people are choosing to get postal votes, but having one makes it much more likely that they'll vote.

I have followed Newcastle my whole life. I had two Newcastle shirts when I was little. It was unusual; most people choose a team like Manchester United or Barcelona, but for me, it has always been Newcastle.

It was definitely not the salary that made me join Manchester United; I went for football reasons - for the history of the club, the league, the fans, and the coach because he is one of the best in the world.

When you come to Manchester United, in every transfer window - whether the team is doing well or badly - there are always players linked with the club because this club is always linked with the best players.

I've missed London so much for its fashion. No disrespect to the girls in Manchester, but some really do look like clones - there's a lot of hair extensions and fake tans. You're free to experiment down here.

I recall waking to the realisation that I was the best table tennis player under 17 in north Manchester and parts of Bury. The satisfaction lasted for half an hour before I saw into the nothingness of things.

I do my best thinking when I'm out running. When I'm out in the hills around Manchester, that's when my head clears. That's when I think about the things I'm going to say to my players in the biggest moments.

When I left Manchester I just took that as a challenge - to try to prove people wrong. And when you do, there is no better feeling than that. I knew in my gut it was the right time to move and I just believed.

When I used to watch the derbies on TV in the past, I could tell the atmosphere of those games was incredible. Now, being able to be part of such a great event like a Manchester derby, it's an amazing feeling.

You want to win things, you want the best players to come to Manchester United and if we're playing better and we're winning things and we're challenging for things then we're going to attract the best players.

I'm very happy at City, very happy since the day I came. I knew that the project was good, and in my head, there is nothing else but Manchester City, so how long I'm going to be at City is just never a question.

I used to be so into soccer. I would wear soccer team hoodies, another soccer team's pants, and Manchester United earrings. And I had, like, five of everything, so I would just wear the same outfit all the time!

I live in Wales but spend quite a lot of time in London - I stay with my brother. When I get home after being in Manchester or London for a bit, I forget how dark the sky is, and I won't have seen stars for ages.

St James' Park was always, in the course of my career, a great place to play football, for the wildness of the crowd and the no-holds-barred football that both my team, Manchester United, and Newcastle would play.

Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world, and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United - on the left wing! My heart breaks. Really, I have tears in my eyes. Central midfield is Shinji's best role.

It is a boyhood dream to play for Manchester United. To come here is a bit surreal. You see the number of fans out there and how far some of them have travelled to see. It is going to take a bit of getting used to.

I have felt part of this club when I have travelled all around the world and been recognised as a Manchester United player. And when you're a Manchester United player you will forever be a Manchester United player.

I want to see Pogba being a Manchester United player and being as good as everything else he does in life. He's absolutely brilliant on social media, and he's projecting himself to be this incredibly modern player.

It's difficult to say with words what Manchester United means for me. For anyone. It's amazing to play for this club, with the history of this club, for the fans, for everything. It's amazing to be part of this club.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my life since I stopped playing. Of course you miss playing now and then, but I've travelled, I still work with Manchester United, I spent more time with my family and watched my kids grow up.

I've a lot of respect for what people are doing here in Manchester, to promote the city's creativity and Aviva Investors Manchester Art Fair has played a big role in that. I'm glad to bring my work to the North West.

In Ukraine as well as in Brazil, Manchester City is now considered one of the best teams in the world, and after I signed, people back home in Brazil congratulated me for signing for one of the top teams in the world.

I like the Italian giants, and Spain is attractive, but when I heard that Manchester United were in the frame, I was very flattered. Nonetheless, I want to reiterate that Udinese is a great place, and I am happy here.

In England, there are big games but nothing like the Clasico. Manchester United versus Liverpool is a really great match, probably the best over there. But Barcelona-Madrid is different to any other game in the world.

To be the first Nigerian to play for Manchester United is a great achievement for me which I am going to cherish for the rest of my life because it's not easy to dream something and it comes true. It's a great feeling.

When I arrived at Liverpool, the budget was £20m gross. When I left, it was £17m, but still people said I must win the title. Manchester United had around £50m more every year, but they said I must compete against them.

I definitely feel the attention of the media globally now I am a member of a great squad like Manchester United. Everything here at the club shows me I have come somewhere really big. But I think I can take the pressure.

We had to support our player and genuinely felt, like Rio has said, that it was an honest mistake. It is important to know that Manchester United never said, and Rio Ferdinand never said, that a mistake hadn't been made.

I can remember how I felt the first time I was knocked out by Floyd Mayweather Jr. My first fight afterwards was against Juan Lazcano at the City of Manchester Stadium. Every time I got punched I felt like I would wobble.

Manchester United is a world-famous club, and yet if you say, 'Manchester United,' then immediately you think of Sir Alex Ferguson. To have achieved so much and have so much importance at such a big club is extremely rare.

You only have to look at Manchester's Royal Exchange or Home to understand the huge energy outside London - there's enough talent around the country to have a Donmar and National in every city. It just comes down to money.

I used to go salmon fishing with the late Jim Slater, the renowned investor, and he would give me tips. He told me to buy shares in football clubs, so I invested in Manchester United before its shares went through the roof.

People in south Manchester overwhelming want to be able to recycle more than they currently can - especially cardboard and plastics - and want more frequent and accessible collections, particularly for those living in flats.

Muslims do drink, as anyone who has spent a wild weekend with Saudi booze tourists in Bahrain will know. Those Saudi tourists are like teenage girls in Manchester on a Saturday night. But each country and region is different.

I have always considered myself to be very fortunate. To play for the biggest club in the world, which also happens to be the team I supported as a boy, means I have never had to consider changing away from Manchester United.

For good or ill, communism transformed the globe, but how many of us realise the crucial role played by a Manchester public library - Chethams, the oldest library in the English-speaking world - in the honing of that ideology?

My feelings towards Manchester City will never change; I'm eternally grateful to them as a football club. They took me as a 19-year-old boy from Shrewsbury Town, took somewhat of a punt on me, and I've had some fantastic times.

I was covering the Manchester attack and was asked to stay another day and do the programme from there. But I had promised my little boy I would be at his sports day, and I had this really sharp sense that I needed to be there.

Where I grew up was a place called Salford, which was the industrial heartland of Manchester. And where I lived in Salford, I could walk to the center of Manchester within about 20 minutes. So I lived really close to the center.

I'm very fortunate to have worked at two unbelievable clubs, Manchester City and Barcelona, and I feel like I've really changed the way I look at football from being around and in those environments, so I feel really privileged.

I had a place to go to university; I was going to study history. I was in New York doing 'Arcadia,' and I suddenly thought, 'It feels a bit weird to go from a New York stage to Manchester University.' It didn't quite feel right.

I was working as a secretary in Manchester and thought I would always do that. Then I got this letter offering me a two-year fellowship where I could write; they would pay me a salary and give me a flat to live in. It was heaven.

David Rouse, a goalkeeping scout for Manchester City, came over for maybe a week in October. He was an awesome guy. He showed me what kind of club they were like. We talked about Manchester City. He watched me and watched a game.

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