Jay-Jay Okocha Quotes

You look at a club like Chelsea, and you know it won't be easy to get into that team. Sometimes you have to go away, play regular first team football, and show Chelsea that you are ready to play for them.

When you get to 16 at Barcelona, it's the age that you sign your main contract. I was about to sign that, but we knew there were a lot of other options because you always get them from other teams at that time. I didn't have the option to come to Arsenal until I was right about to sign with Barcelona.

It's Chelsea and you will always have competition for places here.

I don't know how you get in the England squad without getting in the Arsenal team.

It will be a tough task to break into the first team at Chelsea.

There has been a great list of players who cut their teeth in Europe.

Of course it is going to be difficult for any player to get in the Chelsea side no matter who they are.

Even all the top players going to Europe to play helps soccer in America, as do all the MLS players like Beckham and all that, they're trying to promote it. At the end of the day it's about getting the younger generation interested at an early age so most of them will move on and play.

We're not the only ones out there trying to get good players and trying to help kids.

It's very important that Manchester United have four or five young players every year from the youth system.

I was very close to joining Manchester United.

From a footballer's point of view, if you want to choose a football club, then Arsenal is right up there with the best.

Me being at Coventry, instead of a big Premier League club, probably helped me develop. You don't get put in the academy system, playing Under-18s and Under-23s.

Liverpool give young players a good opportunity.

When I was playing for Chelsea and Arsenal, we had a young team but also experienced players. You still have space for the youngsters to play, they just have to be strong mentally to compete every week.

I played for Barcelona, for Ajax, where it's important to develop and integrate young talent.

I was very fortunate that I had a great scouting staff at Everton from the academy, because it was those people who got the likes of Ross Barkley and Wayne Rooney when they were young.

I was about five or six when I went to the little foundation camps. I got into the academy when I was nine, and I've gone through every age group since and into the first team.

I've played for England Under-21s, in the Under-20 World Cup and I've been part of the play-offs in the Championship. But in terms of helping my career and getting me ready, going to Cheltenham Town was a massive experience.

I started going training with Southampton, and they were selecting the team for the under-9s. I did a six-week trial and got in. I was quite lucky to play at a good standard from a very young age.

The Champions League is very difficult.

It's very difficult to pick a 17-year-old who's had 10 minutes of first-team football. You're talking about replacing senior players with some 17-year-olds who haven't played Premier League football.

I started playing with my dad, and then I started going to soccer schools in Sunderland and managed to get scouted from there.

At a club like Liverpool, it is normal there is going to be competition for every single place.

When I was 15, I used to pick the school football team.