Footballing qualities can be developed, but Stoichkov is a player with character and inborn talent. I've seen him produce fantastic plays even from impossible situations... I couldn't believe it, when I heard that I used to be his idol.
Stoichkov's playing on the wing, in this situation he likes to come in and scalp the centre-half.
I really liked Stoichkov when he played at Barcelona. I played in his position then... more or less! I loved to watch him on matchdays because of the personality he showed team-mates and fans.
At Napoli, the greatest player of all time played here - Diego Armando Maradona. The fans expect the best, and quality players.
He is an exceptional talent. I still think Diego Maradona is the best player I have ever seen but Messi is closing in fast. He's a wonderful sight in full flight and we are lucky to have him around.
Maradona? You couldn't match him, but you could learn a lot from him. I did not play much, but I did learn plenty from him at Napoli. He was the best striker in the world and I was so lucky to have played with him. Some of the things he used to do you couldn't even dream about. It was absurd.
Messi, he's exceptional. When you watch him, you feel there's a child inside him and he is making some childhood dream come true. He's a Great Player, not only for today but also tomorrow.
I find it embarrassing when people compare me to Maradona. How can they? There is only one Maradona. People who say this just have no idea, they don't know what they are talking about. Diego was a complete one-off who will never have an equal on the football pitch. No-one, I repeat no-one, could have transformed teams like he did. Maradona was the world's greatest-ever player while I'm just an apprentice.
He has been named as the heir apparent of the great Argentine hero, Diego Maradona, by journalists, players, and Maradona himself, alike. I'd personally put him in a drawer of my bedside table.
My dream was to become the flagship player for Napoli. Even though I played for other teams, I would have liked to have returned and retired there. Napoli is my life, my city, I have regrets.
I was certainly no Maradona. I was a very fast player. When I saw a space, I used it. When I went past somebody, he didn't catch up with me again. I was a player who came with a run-up. What Maradona could see in a small space, I saw over long distances.
Especially going from an attacking player to a defensive player, your whole mindset has to change. You have to work on one-v-one defending versus one-v-one attacking.
I have played against (Michel) Platini, (Diego) Maradona, (Johan) Cruyff and played with George Best — a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does. Two years ago I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie. But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He’s in a league of his own.
I like to chip in with goals because I'm an attacking player, and that's what an attacking player should do.
I played against Maradona and he was a great player like Messi too.
When I was making myself known I learnt a lot from him. I definitely regard him as the greatest, although it's difficult to say that and also unfair because there are players from different eras that have been so important and Maradona was one of them, but certainly he was an unbelievable player and I'm so glad I met him.