“If you can just make heavy eye contact with Beckham for about 20 seconds, your football knowledge grows exponentially. Sometimes I just FaceTime him and I’m just like, ‘Don’t speak. Just stare at me.’” Ryan Reynolds, the Hollywood actor and new owner of Wrexham [ITV’s This Morning]
“Animal. Lovely bloke as well. He was the first one in every single day. He would be the last one to leave the training pitch, the last one to leave the building every day. This was the days before Instagram and Twitter and doing it for the ‘Gram. He was doing it for himself, he just wanted to be the best he could possibly be. The question between Messi and Ronaldo, I’ll always say Ronaldo. He’s a machine. That level of mentality, phwoah.” Ben Foster on his former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo [JaackMaate's Happy Hour Podcast]
“When we played a lot of time when I was in Madrid against Messi…don’t talk about Messi to the players. They are going to be scared. I try not to talk too much about Manchester City.” Carlo Ancelotti ahead of Everton-Manchester City
“I have to say a special thank you to 'Drago' – for the pass and because he’s in my fantasy football team! I’m in my own team too, so I must have got a lot of points this week.” Dusan Vlahovic after Bartlomiej Dragowski set him up to complete his hat-trick against Benevento
"He is so powerful. If you look at him you think, 'Oh, trouble'. The way he finishes is just ridiculous. He believes so much in himself. There's a bit of cockiness about him. You've got to be a bit cocky. The likes of Pele… the desire that they have. They want to kill. They're looking at the defender and thinking, 'You're not going to be able to live with me.’” Thierry Henry on Erling Haaland [Sky Sports]
“I signed there and of course Ronaldo ‘Fenômeno’ was there. He already had so many injuries on his knee, his weight. But then we do four v four in training… oh my God, Rio! I’ve been applauding, I’ve been screaming, I’ve been bowing. I was like, ‘You’re pulling this off now. [Imagine] you at your best? It was the best ability I have seen in my life.” Ruud van Nistelrooy [Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE podcast]
"Allen Iverson's jersey was one of the first ones I bought. Seeing someone like him dominating among the giants was an important source of inspiration for me. I wear the No23 shirt because LeBron James also inspires me. I used to have the No24 because it's the day when my daughter was born. I had a little argument with my wife for this change, but in the end she understood. What impresses me about LeBron is the fact that he manages to change a team, bringing all his team-mates to the highest level. Cristiano Ronaldo is the LeBron James of football. He has talent, desire to work hard and longevity, and he brings his desire to win in every team.” Nicolo Barella [Sky Sport]
“I’m sure that Cristiano will turn up extra motivated – not just to score goals. He has an added aspiration when representing the national team, and I’m certain that he’s not thinking about personal targets but realising ambitions with the national team. I know that he has a really big dream of playing in and winning a World Cup. That is his main objective.” Fernando Santos [A Bola]
“Benzema. He’s an exceptional player. He’s having an incredible season, he had an incredible season last year, and he’s had several incredible seasons in his career. His finishing is magnificent.” Rodrygo on who is the best player in the world [FIFA.com]
“A month ago I had a private meeting with the Pope. It was a very emotional day for me. He liked the fact that I had three children. He likes large families and encouraged me to have more. He told me that I had plenty of time for that right now, and yes, you can't deny the Pope a wish.” Ciro Immobile [Marca]
"Robert Lewandowski. What he has made out of his potential, how he pushed himself to become the player he is today, that's extraordinary. Lewy took every step he needed to take to be that goal machine. Every one. Lewy is an absolute machine." Jurgen Klopp on the best player he has ever coached [Bild]
"I love the mentality that the women’s team has. They expect to win every single game. That's the mentality that we need to get. We're working on it.” Gregg Berhalter urges his USMNT learn from the USWNT [CBS Sports]
“If you are a banker, you can do that for all your life, but if you are a footballer, once you hit your mid-30s you have to find something else to do. I see some similarities between watchmaking and football. In football if not all the team is perfect you will not win. It's the same with a watch: if everything is not perfectly in place, the watch is not going to work. Stephan Lichtsteiner on his new profession
“If you play with him, you play with half a man more because he gives intensity and volume that is outstanding and is unique. It is a pleasure to coach him, a big gift for me.” Thomas Tuchel on N'Golo Kante
“It was all new to me because in France we don’t really have that hate, apart from between Paris and Marseille, who I didn’t play for. I remember Pat Rice came to me and punched my shoulder and said, ‘You, it’s the derby this weekend, so you better be ready.' I was like ‘Woah, ok then!’ Even when I first got to the pitch for the warm-up, people were throwing things at us. You could feel the hate and I liked it.” Bacary Sagna on the North London Derby [Goal]
"He looked like an alien. We were used to Ronaldo and Christian Vieri, but he immediately impressed us. Against Real Madrid there was Luigi Di Biagio, Clarence Seedorf and myself over the ball, but Hector Cuper wanted Adriano to take the free-kick. He fired home a missile. Di Biagio and I could not believe our eyes. He ran to the bench while we stopped because we did not think he could hit the ball that hard. Marco Materazzi on Adriano [La Gazzetta dello Sport]