Dortmund is a fantastic club, critical for my career. But my Spanish grandfather on my mother's side always wished that I play in Spain. And if, then at Real Madrid.
Spain have got a big influence from Real Madrid and Barcelona, and when you watch Spain play, it's almost like watching Barcelona or Real Madrid at times.
I'm part Spanish. My paternal grandfather came from Spain via Singapore to Manila. On my mother's side it's more mixture, with a Filipino mother and a father who was Scotch Irish-French; you know, white American hybrid. And I also have on my father's side a great-great-grandmother who was Chinese. So, I'm a hybrid.
Real Madrid? There is no agreement, but I promised my grandfather I would play there one day. Why wouldn't I want to discover new things? As I've said several times, I'd like to play in Spain and have good weather for once in my life!
I always say that I need competition, and I need competition every week, and in Spain, I was at an amazing club, but I had four matches a year: Barcelona v Real Madrid, Real Madrid v Barcelona, and after that, we'd win 4-0, 5-0, 4-1, 6-1.
The only club that could lure me away from Dortmund is Real Madrid.
The history of Real Madrid is impressive, and Cristiano Ronaldo added a piece more to the history of this club, but Real Madrid can't stop. The player changes club, stops playing, retires and Real Madrid will still be here.
My childhood dream? To play at Real Madrid. In 2014, before he died, I promised my grandfather who was from Avila, 110 kilometers from Madrid, that I would play there. It will be complicated, but it sits in a corner of my head.
For a kid that just played for Oviedo, to then going to play for a team like Real Madrid, it felt fantastic. But being taken out of my family home and moving away alone, into the residence Madrid have for young players, it was a bit difficult. But as time passed, I got used to it.
Madrid are a great club with some fantastic people and I used to play there.
When I was younger, I had some close friends who always loved European football, and Real Madrid at that time were the dominant force. I remember family holidays when we used to go to Spain, and we'd bring back replica shirts of Real Madrid and pretend to be the players when we played in the park.
All I dreamed of when I became a footballer was to play for a club as big as Real Madrid. It's maybe the most famous and best club in the history of football.
I never played in Spain. To play for Real Madrid or Barcelona would be great.
I'll never play in Barcelona, because in Spain I am a Real Madrid supporter.
The club [Real Madrid] has a fantastic set-up with marvellous people. The atmosphere at training is perfect - it's just wonderful
Real Madrid are Real Madrid, and any player would want to be at Real Madrid. Why would I want to leave Real Madrid? I wanted to play, nothing else.
I always wanted to play for AC Milan or Real Madrid. Real Madrid, of course, because when I was young, the players that played there were the top players. I was looking at Real Madrid as the best of the best. And AC Milan, they also had good players when I was young, so I looked at AC Milan the same way as Real Madrid.