Fabricio Coloccini: “Every time in the last month or the last year he has been supportive.
“He knows a lot about me, about football and life.
“We met a lot of times. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am a person and you have to think like I’m your father’.
“He gave me advice and said, ‘I can speak to you like a manager and a father’.
“That is very important to me because he gave me a lot of help.
“Some fans may have wondered ‘can he still be the captain if his head isn’t right?’
“But the manager still had he confidence in me to give it.
“It is extra motivation for me on top of the drive I already have, plus responsibility that I want to take. I will try to put the problems to one side.
“If I look at the situation from a footballer’s point of view, it is perfect.
“I am the captain, we have good players already and have signed new faces.
“If I wanted to leave for football reasons, people could call me crazy.
“Why would I want to go back to Argentina?
“We have a great team and we are one of the biggest teams in the Premier League.
“The fans are unbelievable and now we’ve signed a few players who are going to be good for the team.
“I heard that people think I have a problem with the club.
“But I have no problem with anybody here – the staff are fantastic. It is just a personal problem.”