Jimmy Hill Quotes

When a club shows interest and a manager wants you it is always nice.

I played in the Premier League for Blackpool and earned the right to go to a club like Liverpool.

Out of all the clubs who were interested, I got the feeling that, deep down, Chelsea showed that they really wanted me. There were lots of reasons I came to Chelsea. They showed a real desire to get me to come here. I didn't have to think about it too much.

There were a lot of clubs interested in me, but United is the only club that I would have left Real Madrid for.

I just want to thank Everton for the opportunity and Watford for having opened the doors for me in England.

I got scouted for Tottenham and was there for three to four weeks before a phone call from Arsenal came. The first session they wanted to sign me so, happy days, I didn't look back. I'm an Arsenal fan, everyone in my family is Arsenal, so it wasn't a hard decision.

There were a lot of clubs interested in me - a lot, really. But Manchester United appeared and didn't go away. They absolutely wanted me, and it happened.

If Milan agrees to let me go, and if there's an agreement between the clubs, I would love to play for Madrid.

Chelsea is a top club, and I have many friends there, but you cannot turn down the chance to join Manchester United.

It's difficult to say no when Manchester City want you and you could play there. That much I have to admit.

Prior to the draft I met with the Vikings about four or five times.

I'm really happy that West Ham and Manuel Pellegrini have given me a chance to be playing again.

It's nice there are a lot of big clubs that are interested in me, but if one of those is Barcelona, that's special.

I wanted to play in the Premier League and Bolton offered me that opportunity at that time and that was why I signed for Bolton.

I have already told Vermaelen to come to Napoli 10 times. The city is magnificent and even Benitez asked me to convince Vermaelen to come here.

West Ham was the best choice for me on the back of my best season in Ligue 1. I don't think there was much room left for progress in Ligue 1.

I played for Arsenal for more than three years, and I had fantastic moments. Maybe they made me one of the best strikers in the world, because under Arsene Wenger, I learned a lot of things - but you have to move on.

It's tough, as Chelsea's a very special place for me, and I've always had a great relationship with the fans, but it became very obvious that I was not in the manager's plans. I have achieved great things there, but I just needed to play football, and that's why I got the move to Fenerbahce.

Dortmund tried very early to sign me and always kept in close contact with me - this behaviour has really impressed me.

I came to QPR looking for a new challenge after six years at West Ham, a wonderful time capped off by promotion at Wembley.

I've given it all from my combine to my pro day to my meetings with teams.

Playing regular first-team football is a massive carrot as I have been in the reserves for two or three years. I'm used to playing in front of two or three hundred people and now I could be running out in front of 40,000 or 50,000.

It is always difficult to sign players even if you are a big club.

Aston Villa had been in touch and they'd gone into the Premier League so I knew I could play in the Premier League just like that.

I was out on loan at Barnsley when United accepted an offer for me from Leicester and that was it really. I just had to concentrate on my new club.