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I felt within myself that I needed to change what I was doing. I needed a new stimuli. So the interest from Manchester United was a perfect fit.

With United, we'd all grown up together, we all wanted to win the biggest trophy in football. We did it togther.

I believe playing for such a great club like United honours my father's memory, and the inspiration and drive he gave to me when I was young. I hope he is proud looking at me from the sky.

Everybody I talked to - from my friends to my family and some of the players - really gave me a lot of support from the start. And that certainly made me feel good about trying to come back and be one of the best again.

Growing up, I supported Manchester United, and my hero was Mark Hughes.

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.

My early ambitions were the same as they are now - to play for Manchester United. I was, and still am, football mad.

I realised I'd been spoiled at Liverpool. We were used to winning. In Italy I grew up as a person. I didn't enjoy the football, mind. It was very defensive, but I became a better player because of the work I had to do around the box. Off the pitch, I learned about what to eat and what to drink to be successful, and I learned about life.

I wanted my fans and my family and my friends to be proud of me.

I've always had people come up to me to say that they admire the way I play, and then they tell me they're not United fans. That's always been nice.