Why did you still go to most Barça games when you were injured?
Because I liked to be close to my colleagues and the closest I could get was in the stands. It was difficult because there are a lot of nerves inside a stadium and I wanted to be on the pitch helping my colleagues. But it’s even worse on TV. That’s why I went.

Were some games more difficult to watch than others?
The big games and the ones in which Barça were not winning. Against Chelsea in the Nou Camp, for example. I was desperate to be on the pitch to make sure that Barça won. I wanted to help, but I couldn’t...

Was that because it was Chelsea – a team you’ve said you dislike?
I’ve never said that about Chelsea. The papers that printed that were telling lies. They were trying to create a controversy which didn’t exist. Chelsea is a big club with a great team. I respect Chelsea.

Would you like to play for them?
I’m happy here in Barcelona.

Do you think that your absence from Barcelona proved how important you
are to them?
I don’t think my absence demonstrated anything. We all need each other and we all play for each other. That’s our mentality. We’re out of Europe but we’re still leading the Spanish league so we must be doing something right.

But Barça were not the same team without you...
That’s your opinion.

Barça won far fewer games without you. Speak to the 80,000 people who watch the team play, who pay your wages. All of them will tell you that Barça is not the same without you...
[Shrugs] Their opinion.

Is there a small part of you that’s satisfied at that? Do you feel you were taken for granted before?
Who didn’t value me? Who said that? Everyone is free to think what they want but I’ve never not felt that I’m taken for granted, not by my team mates and the coach. Not by the people in the street. Not by the people in Cameroon.

Nevertheless do you think that if you weren’t African, people in Spain would give you more respect?
No, I don’t think about that.

How did you feel in Zaragoza last season when you suffered so much racism from the crowd that you started to walk off?
That showed how I felt. I did not ignore it. Some players do. I was angry then, but that is in the past. I prefer that people know me for my actions on the pitch. Politicians should speak about racism, not sports people. Sometimes I’m guilty of being too sincere, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I swallow and get on with it.

But you’ve suffered racism in other areas of your life. For example, when you tried to buy something in a luxury shop in Paris last year...
The woman refused to accept my credit card because she thought it was stolen. When the manager came, he recognised me. When they see that you’re a football player, they don’t see the black man, but the money.

Did he recognise you because you’re the best player in the world?
Me?! Thanks a lot, but the best player in the world just now is Cannavaro.

Why?
Because they gave him the prize of being the best footballer in the world.

But you’ve not always shown faith in that award. You once said that if your name was Eto’odinho, you’d have won it...
That was a long time ago. I don’t have a problem with Ronaldinho.

There appeared to be a problem a couple of months ago... [Eto’o and Ronaldinho fell out after the Cameroonian refused to come on as a sub against Racing Santander]
There wasn’t.

There was certainly a lot of controversy around the game against Racing. Why didn’t you play that night?
When you’ve just come back from injury, you should warm-up for longer. I hadn’t warmed up long enough and I wasn’t prepared to risk my knee because I could have come out of the situation badly. Then afterwards came something between me and the mister [Rijkaard], but there was not any problem. I gave my opinion and not everyone liked it, but it’s in the past.

But for two days there was a big controversy. You were seen as being critical of Ronaldinho...
There wasn’t a controversy between us. There were some misunderstandings, but as soon as we spoke these were cleared.

Would you say that you are an instinctive person?
Off the pitch, yes, I’m someone who speaks and expresses himself, even though that may not always be desirable. On the pitch, my instinct helps me to score goals, to anticipate things – and this is desirable.

Did you come back from injury too soon?
No, and the club didn’t put any pressure on me. I am not 100 percent, but when you have been absent for five months, you’re not exactly the same when you return. I cannot say when I will be 100 percent because that depends on my knee and my knee doesn’t speak. My game will improve. Slowly I will get there.

What’s gone wrong at Barça? Is the club divided into two camps as you suggested?
You’ll have to ask the people within the club. There is always politics off the field, but I just play and do my best.