I want to play in the Premier League, the Champions League, and I want to continue playing for England. If I'm going to do that, I have to play for my club and put in good performances for my club because there are other English midfielders who are doing that in the Premier League.
It's such a crazy league, the Championship. People used to say that to me, and when you are in the Premier League, you don't really take notice. It's a good league; it's tough, and I like it. But the Premier League is where I want to be, with Villa.
The Premier League is a competitive league where strikers can be brought in for x amount of pounds and it might block your pathway as a young player. To go abroad, if it gives you the opportunity to play at the highest level in that country then I think it's a no-brainer.
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.
What puts you in a different level is if you win the Premier League, and you're capable of challenging every season for the Premier League, and if you play Champions League, and you really believe, and you're a real contender one day to win the Champions League. That's my objective in Tottenham.
Many players in the French squad play in the Premier League or have played in the Premier League, so I knew about the level.
I think after 'The Day The Earth Stood Still,' I really stopped thinking strategically about my career. I just did. At that point, it became crystal clear to me that you can strategise your career all you want, but it's so difficult to get a movie made, and creativity shouldn't be subjected to that kind of strategic thinking.
Of course the Premier League is the most difficult league in the world because it's so even. I think you can't really compare other leagues with the Premier League. In the Premier League, every team can beat every team, and in football, that's something where you can have surprises.
In Spain, they show many Premier League games on TV, and it is an inspirational league. Maybe I would like to play in the Premier League.
I watch a lot of football and you hardly ever see Premier League players go down with cramp. The fitness, the intensity of Premier League football is phenomenal.
We want hungry players, players who have a burning ambition to play in the Premier League and stay in the Premier League for years to come.
It's crazy because I did say to myself at the age of 16 that I want to be in the Premier League at 24. When I got to the Premier League at 24 with Palace, there were tears in my eyes.
I did almost take a job in China because I thought it might be good for me to go abroad and experience what I think the best coaches in the Premier League have had. It helps you learn. You have to evolve.
I don't want to get so lost in thinking about me and talking about me all the time in interviews. It's so nice to unwind and just look at other things and get out of yourself. It's hard to detach myself from myself without neglecting myself. You know what I mean? I don't want to get in to the habit of thinking about my career because when it comes down to it, it's not really that important. I could die tomorrow and the world would go on.
I want to go back to play in the Premier League. I feel it's where I belong.
You can go anywhere in the Premier League and it's going to be tough. Every single game is so tough. So I think if you make it, and you're lucky enough to play in the Premier League, I don't think there's a need to go anywhere.