"I would side with (Graeme) Souness on that one, Maradona's career at the very top was only a few years." Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says Lionel Messi is a greater player than Diego Maradona

"As I’ve grown older I’ve really got to understand how powerful one voice can be, my voice can be, or the team’s voice can be. So to hold that back or not to use that just seems selfish in a way." USA midfielder Megan Rapinoe speaks with The Guardian

"Never. It's not the biggest stress in the world, but it's so intense and so important and all in a short time. Football is not the most important thing in the world, but at these moments, of course, it feels like that because we have nothing else to do. It's not easy to enjoy but I love what I do." Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp when asked if he's able to enjoy the Premier League title race, speaking with BBC Sport

"I was working at Woolworths [supermarket] on Thursday when I got a call from [coach] Mike [Mulvey]. I asked my boss if I could go out the back for five minutes and have a chat. I told my boss straight away and he celebrated with me.  I had to get back to work so I couldn't celebrate too much." 19-year-old Josh Nisbet reveals the moment he went from packing shelves to becoming a professional footballer with Australian A-League club Central Coast Mariners

"It’s also a piece of history playing with his dad in the field, his father who is the captain, and they scored four goals between them, it’s history for Tonga and also for Oceania." Lotoha'apai United coach Lui Muavesi speaking after Tuia Falepapalangi scored a hat-trick for the Tongan side in their OFC Champions League qualifier against American Samoa's Pago Youth before his father Pua also got on the scoresheet

"[Alphonso Davies] has got us all excited. Canada hasn’t really had that kind of player and it gives people hope, seeing that we’ve got a genuine game-changer who is bordering on being world-class." Canada head coach John Herdman on rising star Alphonso Davies speaking in an exclusive interview with FIFA.com

"I think that [Hazard] is changing. He was used to playing as an individual player. Now he has to play in a particular way. It's not easy for him because he became Hazard playing in another way, so I think very well it's not easy. But I can see that, now, he is more available to play in this way. He needs to improve, of course. That's normal. He's fantastic from the technical point of view, and I think he can do more tactically." Maurizio Sarri on Eden Hazard

"I'd like to thank everybody at the club who helped with this endeavour. We were simultaneously in talks with the FA regarding the transfer ban and with the players we wanted to bring in. Once the ban was lifted, we managed to contact the players and complete the transfers within two hours." Former Elazigspor president Selcuk Ozturk on his club signing 22 players in 2 hours on transfer deadline day

"He taught me how to be mentally strong, never to settle for anything less than you think you can achieve, and to always strive to be the very best. Since becoming a coach at United I’ve tried to take inspiration from him, so hopefully he has rubbed off on me. I probably do a few things in training that I picked up from him but don’t realise." Former Manchester United midfielder and current assistant coach Michael Carrick on Sir Alex Ferguson, speaking with FourFourTwo

"I've said many times: what are the best teams in the last decade? Juventus, Bayern Munich, Barcelona. These are the three best teams in Europe. Why? Because every season they win the league, every season they win the cups, every season they are there. Because they are the best." Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola when asked who were the best teams of the decade

"There's only one team which has been a little better than this Real Madrid, and that was the Di Stefano team who won five Champions Leagues in a row. Such feats haven't been achieved by any other club in history. "Who has achieved what this group of players have? That's my response." Emilio Butragueno countering Pep Guardiola’s exclusion of Real Madrid in his list of top teams this decade

"Selfishly as a team, I don't shed a tear that (Sebastian) Giovinco won't be there week one and I don't shed a tear that (Miguel) Almiron won't be there week three. We understand these teams are going to reinforce with big-time players. But maybe there is a little integration that takes some time that maybe we can benefit from at the beginning of the season." Philadelphia Union boss Jim Curtin is content with the big transfers out of Major League Soccer

"He said, ‘Are you the team that signed the guy from England?’ So I said 'yeah'. Then he said, ‘Where is he?’ So I said, ‘He's sat at the front. He won’t sit back here with us.’" Wayne Rooney describing a prank he played on an unsuspecting passenger during a recent team flight with D.C. United, in an interview with Sports Illustrated