I came close to joining Villa early on in my career but nothing happened. I met with them and also with people from Birmingham but nothing materialised.
OK, so I never had a transfer in my career, but I used to love deadline day: Dimitar Berbatov turning up at Manchester airport with hours to go, Robinho coming to Manchester City instead of Chelsea.
When a club has €200m left on its transfer budget in the final days of the transfer period, why shouldn't they make a higher bid when their initial €70m bid has been rejected?
Nowadays, it's hard to know if a player really deserves the money spent on him, because transfer values are high.
My view is that the signing of players should be a simple process. The chief scout identifies them, the manager decides who he wants, and the chief executive is dispatched to do the deal. It really is as simple as that.
If you asked all the goalkeepers in my era, they will tell you that they were worth a lot more than the price they were bought.
Ajax want to get as much as they can for me, while Spurs want to pay as little as possible.
When a striker does well it is normal that he is courted by other teams.
I was disappointed not to be able to sign [for Barcelona] last season. When the best club in the world calls you, then it is something that you want to happen. I have signed for the only club who really wanted me. In no moment did I ever think that Inter was a possibility. Rafa valued me and perhaps that is why people started saying that I could go there but this is the only club that pushed to sign me.
When a club pays money it's because it's his value in the market.
The trouble with the transfer window is it creates a window where transfers have to be done
I always like to remember the year 2008, when we had an amazing offer from Chelsea for Franck Ribery. From that day on, the whole world of football knew nobody can buy a Bayern Munich player against the will of Bayern Munich.
I have never had any contact with Bayern Munich, let alone have agreed personal terms.
I can hardly think of any players that have really walked out of their own volition while there were still teams that really wanted them at a fair price.
People do focus on the transfer fee, but that's football.
When Atletico tried to buy me back, I did everything I could to make it possible. I had offers from clubs in France and Italy, but I would not have left Chelsea for any other side - only for Atletico Madrid.
This is football, things can change very fast. Let's be clear about it though: I will not be used as change to facilitate someone else's transfer.
I was champion for Monaco and had planned a five-day vacation with my friends in Palma de Mallorca. On the second day, I get a phone call from Jorge Mendes with the news of the Manchester City proposal.
I have to be involved in negotiations because players have to buy into me and what I want from them if they join my club, so all managers need to be fully involved in transfers, that's for sure.
Dortmund tried very early to sign me and always kept in close contact with me - this behaviour has really impressed me.
For you to even enquire about one player, he is expensive. You go to buy a right-back, a left-back, or a central defender, and he is expensive.
At the last minute, from what I can gather, either Emmanuel Adebayor or his agent phoned us after they had agreed a deal with City and then did the same with Chelsea. He was desperate to get to either Chelsea or us.
Chelsea and Arsenal tried to sign me when I was 13, 14.
