In China you have to be in peak form because you need to do well. You earn a lot - I had a huge salary - but then you have to prove you are worth it. Every match is a challenge and I played next to or faced some truly great players.
Gervinho
Arsenal is a team that needs good footballers and leaders on the field.
I want to help the team to have a great season. I will give everything and never give up.
Didier Drogba has been an inspiration to all of us in the Ivory Coast national team. He is a great motivator for all of us - and some of the talks he gives are like a president trying to motivate his country. It is not just what he does on the field - but also all he does for all of our people off the field.
It is always difficult to leave your mates and your club in the middle of the season for another competition.
Beveren helped me a lot to adjust to Europe.
Entertaining those who come to see me is my objective.
I was born in a tiny place in Ivory Coast, so being a protagonist in this life is a dream.
I didn't lose my smile from the first to the last match at Arsenal. I remember when I left I wanted to thank everyone, even the dressing-room staff.
A group of artists in Ivory Coast recorded a song about me.
Dreaming costs nothing, no?
Zahoui is a guy who's in quest of results, however it comes.
In life you will always be criticised.
It's a great club, for me, and I am still an Arsenal fan. Will I come back? Maybe, I still hope to.
I haven't had many problems adapting to the Premier League.
When Arsene Wenger called me to tell me that he would like me to come to his club, I don't think you imagine the satisfaction I felt just after hanging up the phone.
The Premier League is a notch above. It's maybe the best league in the world.
I honestly did not learn much from Arsenal.
I'm very lucky being able to be next to the likes of Thierry Henry or Didier Drogba.
At the academy the coaches would show us Arsenal games on TV and my idol was Thierry Henry. He inspired me. That's why I became an Arsenal fan.
During the holidays, professional players would come and say hello to us in the academy and that really made you want to be a professional. When you saw what great conditions they lived in, it gave you even more desire.
Replacing someone who has scored more than 30 goals in the previous season is not easy.
I left England because I was not playing.
Wenger never had faith in me.
Everything's possible in football.
Football really has saved my family and it's true that it saves a lot of families in Africa. It gives us the means to be able to give a better life to our loved ones.
Drogba has been our great motivator. He never stops reminding us that we are here to win the tournament, no matter the hurdles, no matter the game form and no matter the score margin.
I've learnt to adapt on the pitch and, when I think back, also in front of goal.
When you are young, you always want to improve, to work with great managers - and Arsene Wenger is one of the best in the world.
As a child I dreamed of playing for Arsenal, because I loved them. Now I hate them for the way Wenger treated me.
Every game is tough for me because the level of competition is so high in the Premier League, and every time you have to be at your best.
I liked playing in England, I liked playing for Arsenal.
Eden has learnt a lot at Lille, and I believe he could succeed abroad.
I like to relax in the South of France. The weather is so good, the food is so good, and it is perfect because we can all speak French.
I can confirm I feel more at home at Roma than elsewhere. I was adopted by the club, the staff and the fans. From the first day I sensed this great atmosphere.
I started playing football in Abidjan, my African town, without even having shoes on my feet.
I don't mind about my own stats, goals or assists.
In Ivory Coast it's very hard to have normal shoes, so just imagine football boots - they were considered a true luxury.
Yes, at times in front of goal a fog descends. Perhaps the speed of my feet doesn't match up with that of my mind.
Arsenal have always been a dream of mine and I always thought one day I would go there.
I lived a dream. Any kid who starts playing can't help but to dream to play at a club like Arsenal.
Jay Z, Thierry Henry, and President Obama are three people I really respect.
I grew up with very little - so material things have never been that important for me.
I have always followed Arsenal in the Premier League. At some points they were really good, but also had some difficulties like a lot of big clubs do.
Arsenal will always remain a large club.
I was not getting much time on the pitch and was in need of this time to improve and play my best football. Wenger was not prepared to give it to me. Also my position on the wing was not what I was expecting and I wasn't happy with it.
I am working very hard at training to improve my efficiency, to be more clinical in front of goal.
I don't detest Arsenal because of the way Wenger treated me.
I started playing at my local estate club. I used to wake up every morning to go to play in the club. I loved it so much, it brought a lot of wonderful things in my life.
My idol has always been Thierry Henry.
