“Joining United is a dream come true. I look forward to playing my part in helping this club win more honours.”

“If I want to play for the money, I would accept the Manchester City offer or Chelsea. The red shirt is the really big thing for me. I want to play for the biggest club in the world. I am 27 now, I am at the biggest club in the world and maybe this could be the last step in my career. I know I can develop here in the way I always wanted. I always believed. People used to say ‘keep the faith’. I went through some difficult times and it was a long battle, but I always thought it was going to happen and in the end it did. Now I am here and hopefully I will play my part in the team and we can win lots of trophies as well. Trophies are an important thing in football and I want to help this team win more. I have handled pressure and expectation all through my life. I am not scared of it. That is why I am here.”

“I feel happy playing in this team. It is everything I thought it would be. Ryan Giggs has been here since the beginning and says he never wanted to go anywhere else. I don’t want to go anywhere either.”

“I did not celebrate the first goal because I was still angry with myself for missing the first chance. On that occasion, my shot was not right at all – in fact, I was embarrassed by it. When you pay so much money for someone, you should score chances like that. I was disappointed with the first one. Sometimes in a game you might only get one opportunity and I was trying to score, but I guess the most important thing was that we won.”

“I am just myself. I don’t want to be compared with anybody else – especially a legend like Cantona. If you ask some of the guys here, I am the quiet one. I don’t talk much. I prefer to listen and watch. I’ve been like that all my life. I don’t play for myself, I play for the team. You have 75,000 people supporting you every game, the most successful coach in the world and the best players in the world. What more could you want to try and improve? At 27, I’m in the final stage of my development as a player and to be able to do it with this team is fantastic.”

“People talk about the north and the south but I don’t make comparisons like that, I am just interested in my football. People says it is not sunny here and it rains all the time but that doesn’t bother me. I like it the way it is. In fact, I like it better here. I am not a guy who looks for places with a lot of people and traffic. London was crazy anyway, so I used to live out of town. Here it is more peaceful. But the city is secondary to the team I play for. Now I play for the biggest team in the world, so it doesn’t matter where I live. I am very happy and things are going well. My dream was to come here, now I can see how the biggest stars are working and I can compare and measure myself against the best.”

“There is a winning mentality and at United success is expected season after season. I am aware I came with a big price tag and I am ready to prove this season just what I can do. I would not say my playing style is laid back, it is just a different style. I like time on the ball and I like space. If I can get that, then I know I can free up players like Nani and Wayne Rooney, who do lots of running. I am ready to sweat blood for this club. I want to create and score goals and I know I can be part of a trophy-winning team this season.”

“I have arrived where I wanted to be, I have reached the summit. United is the biggest team and I will fight to stay there until the end of my contract.”

“My goal is to remain with United, the best team in the world, and to see out my contract with the club. I know I have the qualities to do so. By joining Manchester United I have achieved everything I wanted.”

“I am lucky. I have loved my time here. I was disappointed with myself that I could not please all the supporters. I have said before the people of Manchester United are the judges and that is the way it should be. It is their team. I am a guest. A privileged guest.”

“He is one of the most successful managers in the history of the game. I write things down about the way we train and how he treats people. It is like a school. You work with the best manager and play with the best players. I try to learn. I am at the biggest club in the world. If I can learn anywhere it is here.”

“I didn’t know before the Liverpool game that it was such a long time since any United player had scored a hat-trick against them. But afterwards I found out that no-one had done it for 64 years so I felt proud. It was a magical day for me. It’s not every day you score three goals against a team like Liverpool. It was a great game and I hope everyone was entertained.”

“I feel at home. I was watching the highlights and I saw that they were happy for me as well as for the goal, so that made me feel great. It shows that my team-mates have accepted me as part of the team. Sometimes you see a striker who scores goals and nobody goes to celebrate with them, but that really made me smile at home when I watched the game.”

“With the goals we score it’s stupid to say that Manchester United is not a contender for the league. It’s a statement that if someone is going to make then they should feel embarrassed because it’s Manchester United, and you have the best players in the world playing there.”

“Everything’s going well for me this season. And if we can win the title it will be even better. That’s my main wish. If, in May, we’ve won the title and I’m there to lift it, then it would be a personal best for me. Winning the 19th league title is very important at Manchester United. I’d love to do that for the manager, who’s been here almost 25 years, as well as my team-mates and the fans.”

“Now I am part of United’s 19th title and I want to be part of the 20th, that’s my plan. I am the happiest man in the team because I’m a champion and top goalscorer in the league. To win 19 titles is a fantastic achievement.”

“I always tend to think my goals are beautiful goals. That is what I want to score; beautiful goals, and create beautiful chances.”

“Smaller clubs might be able to match Manchester United with the way they play, with their organisation, everything. But Manchester United are at the top. Where can you go from there? Maybe Barcelona. At the moment, I don’t see anything else. If you go somewhere else it is a big step down.”

“My mind was always set on joining Manchester United. How can you not go to United? I don’t play for money. I play for glory and winning championships. I’m happy here. I hear people complain about the weather, there’s nothing to do and the food. But, for me, it’s not like that. I play for a club I love, the biggest club, and everything else doesn’t matter.”

“My agent called me to say we have interest from Manchester United. I said: ‘Don’t joke with me’ but he said he was serious. So I was speechless. When the biggest club contact you, it’s a big deal for me coming from a small country like Bulgaria.”

“Tevez did ​​it out of spite. But I wouldn’t do something like that. I had the opportunity to sign for City but I chose United. City are the champions but to me they just bought the title. They bought so many players. I’m sure next year Manchester United will be on top again.”

“The truth is, I love this club, but I am not going to be useful to anyone, if I am not playing. And I want to play, I want to help. But for unknown reasons it’s not going to happen, or my chances will be limited, so it’s better for everyone if we say goodbye.”