Granit Xhaka

I've picked up quite a few yellow cards in the last few years - a few reds, too. That was the case as a youth player as it is now. But I don't see it as a problem. That's how I play. If you take that away, then I wouldn't be where I am now. So I don't think the yellow cards or the red cards are too big of an issue.

Here at Basel is where I made my first professional steps. I came up and grew up through the FC Basel school.

To have six years of professional football under my belt already is really something.

Actually, it's normal when you come to a new club and country: you need to get used to the language, the philosophy of the team, the squad, the coach.

I'm looking forward to the new adventure. Playing in the Premier League was always my dream, and I'm definitely going to relish this opportunity and give my absolute everything for this club.

Maybe if I was born in Kosovo, I might not be where I am now, so I need to thank Switzerland, of course, because I went to school there, learnt to play football there, and started my career there.

My goal is to become a key player in one of the ten best clubs in the world and become a leader there.

You have to be completely there in every game, and as soon as you drop your level even one per cent, you concede goals.

There a lot of occasions when Albanians cause trouble, but then we are also very nice people. People sometimes forget that there are good people from the Balkans as well.

Each month from our income - we have a separate account, obviously - we give 80 percent of it to our parents back home.

Lots of people talk about the character of our team, that it's not right and that we need to do more. But we always show that we can come back.

I never hesitate to go into a tackle, and I don't go onto the pitch to pull out of a challenge.