Lucy Bronze

"I’m constantly striving for the next thing, the next victory, the next landmark in my career. I suppose it’s one of the best assets, but it also means I’m never truly satisfied with what I have or what I have just achieved."

"I’ve always had the view that, when I’ve retired and I look back on my career, then I’ll be happy and proud of my achievements."

"But while I’m in the thick of it, it’s always about, ‘What can I do next? What is the next thing I haven’t won or the mission I haven’t completed?’"

"I wanted to be playing with the best players in the world and learn a different style of the game. I’ve found another way to enjoy football. I’ve fallen in love with football again."

"Having already played abroad, I know it’s so important to be able to communicate. I want to speak to everyone, I want to be friends with everyone, so it’s important that I learn."

"That feeling of winning is so addictive. And the feeling of not winning is super horrible as well – I’m not a great loser."

"There was no stereotypical roles in my household and I think that allowed both myself and my siblings to be raised in a way like that where there was no judgement. It was just support."

"There’s now a place for women in the game to speak about their journeys and what has happened to them on the way. I think small changes are being addressed but for me I think a lot of what we see is more token gestures."

"If you want to get rid of any discrimination you have to really go to the heart of it and it can’t be about doing things because they look nice or enhance somebody’s reputation. It has to be heartfelt and there needs to be a desire to actually make a real change to the game behind the scenes."

"There’s part of you as a female athlete where you have to be grateful for what you get but also pushing to get more."

"Naturally, you’re just always looking for the best in everything you do and football is no different. We want it to be a huge spectacle."

"It’s important for experienced players to remember that younger players are aspiring to be like you and will copy your actions as well as what you say."

"People write you off as a right back. The superstar is the striker or the playmaker."

"I think it’s easy to take motivation from other people. When people have great things to say about you, who doesn’t like that."

"Everyone loves the accolades, everyone loves people saying “oh you’re the best player” but what happens when that stops? Where are you going to get your motivation from? You have to have your own motivation to be able to keep you at the top."

"People aren’t going to like you 24/7, people don’t like me 24/7."

"I think if you stop and look too much at those accolades, you might forget that there’s always more you can do."

"There’s always another trophy to win."

"As I’ve got older I’ve realised that I don’t need to prove myself every single minute and wind people up by doing it."

"I think it’s important to feel confident in what you’re wearing, so now I take the approach that I’m going to wear something because I think it looks cool. I don’t care what anybody else thinks."