“Football is getting a lot more physical, schedules are getting bigger all the time so the amount of games that top clubs have nowadays is really big, so availability is something that I became a little bit obsessed about, which I think made me a better professional and a better athlete as well.
“Ultimately, you become an option for the manager. Then, the probability of you being able to play is a lot higher when the availability is there, so I try to combine that with performance on the pitch. Ultimately, what you do on the pitch will resolve everything, but the availability for me became my first big priority, to be able to play a lot of games for this club.
“Everything that I do when I wake up is to try to be at my best mentally and physically to help the team. Then, on the pitch, it is a game and everything can happen. I always try to give my best, that is common in every game, but ultimately what you do outside of the pitch will try to define if you are able to play for this club or not. Competition for places is high, the quality is really high, so it is a tough place to play but it is the type of place that I love.”