"WITHOUT MY GOAL AGAINST OLYMPIACOS, WHO KNOWS IF WE WOULD HAVE WON IN ISTANBUL"

The French forward on his crucial contribution to Champions League glory, parade heartbreak and having his winner's medal stolen from his house

- Dani Gil

Aged 11, you left Reunion Island, near Madagascar, to join Le Havre's youth team in mainland France. How tough was it to adapt to a different life?

It wasn't an easy adjustment. At the beginning, it was a nightmare. I arrived in Le Havre at the end of July and didn't play any games until May the following year. I kept getting injured - my body couldn’t handle the changes. It was so drastically different - I went from living in 35C heat to 5C, the food was new and the training was much more intense. And being so far away from my parents definitely had an impact on me, too.

But you quickly became a star in France's youth categories...

It was an intense time. We lost the final of the Under-16 Euros to Spain, who had Andres Iniesta and Fernando Torres, who I was tied with as the top scorer. As the runners-up, we went on to play at the U17 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago three months later. We reached the final against Nigeria, who had beaten us in the group stage. But in the final, we won 3-0. I finished as top scorer and player of the tournament - that’s when the big clubs started to notice me. Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool were all interested. I went to London to meet Arsene Wenger. He showed me the training ground, explained the project, and in my mind I was convinced. But then I spoke to my Le Havre teammate Anthony Le Tallec, and he told me he was going to Liverpool. After hearing that, I felt the best thing was for us to keep playing together, so in the end I decided to move to Anfield instead.

What was your best moment from the time you spent at Liverpool?