“I don’t have time for hobbies. At the end of the day, I treat my job as a hobby. It’s something I love doing.”

I always used to go for blondes and quiet girls, but Victoria is the total opposite – dark and loud.

I have come to accept that if I have a new haircut it is front page news. But having a picture of my foot on the front page of a national newspaper is a bit exceptional.

Joining Real Madrid is a dream come true.

I still look at myself and want to improve.

To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country.

I haven’t retired from international football – I still believe I have a part to play in the future of England.

I have got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line, or everything has to be in pairs.

I just want people to see me as a hard-working footballer and someone who is passionate about the game.

One thing will not change – we will be going out to win.

Wayne’s like my son, Brooklyn, who goes out in the garden to play and have fun.

My priority is always the family and Victoria [Beckham] and I always ensure we are there for our children. We work hard but family comes first.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Being at a club that supported me meant a lot.

That was in the past – we’re in the future now.

I didn’t want to go there [America] at 34 years old and for people to say he’s only going for the money. It’s not what I’m going out there to do

I’ve always come back from adversity, and I’ve always had the mentality of proving people wrong.

There will come a day when the phone doesn’t ring as much as it used to.

I learned that from Nana. But rainy days still make my cheeks wet with tears, even now. It was pouring, on that rainy day.

But the day they use hydrogen for transportation, this is the day that oil disappears.

Coming through the years, and finding that I not only have just the fans of my day, but the young ones of today – that’s what it means, it means it was worth all of it.

Mom loved my brother more. Not that she didn’t love me – I felt the wash of her love every day.

There’s certainly more work for me in TV these days.

Success means doing as excellent a job as you can on that particular day. The people I admire most aren’t necessarily the most wonderful athletes.

From that day on it was as if Ren freed me from gravity. I was floating in the sky. Higher. Higher. Higher.