Manchester City's Samir Nasri is highly unusual among modern footballers, for two very different reasons.
First, he's forthcoming with opinions. This is a player who, for example, who was confronted by paparazzi while on holiday in Los Angeles this summer and ended up having a discussion about the FIFA crisis, one in which he welcomed FBI intervention. Few other footballers dared utter a word about the saga.
Second, Nasri is a relentless football watcher. One of the notable things about professional footballers is how few enjoy watching the game; they love playing, they love the dressing room banter, some enjoy the fame, but in general, they're not great spectators. Nasri, however, spends most of his free time watching football.
"Just ask my girlfriend about it," he says. "She's mad with me, because I just watch football all the time. It's not just about practicing: watching the best players in their position, you improve as well, by another thing every single game."
Nasri's fandom starts with his hometown team, Marseille. Last season, they were arguably Europe's most exciting team to watch under mercurial Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa. It's difficult to follow another team when you're a professional footballer, simply because you're often playing when you'd like to be watching, but Nasri made sure he watched each and every one of Marseille's 38 league fixtures, and now worships Bielsa like the most committed football hipster.
When asked to describe the experience of watching a Bielsa side, Nasri, speaking at a recent New Balance boot launch, is almost lost for words.
"I ... I ... it's been a long, long time since I watched Marseille with that much pleasure," he marvels. "Seriously! I understand why everyone in Marseille was dying for Bielsa to stay, I now understand why he's the idol of Pep Guardiola because the style of play, it's just like ... total football.
"They might have some weaknesses in defence, or tactically, because they press one versus one ... everywhere! But the attacking style of play is just ... amazing."
Like every naturally biased football supporter, Nasri remains frustrated his team didn't get what they deserved last season. He can reel off matches where he thinks they deserved more, and can identify three that would have changed the season completely.
"The game against PSG away from home, the game against PSG at home ... and the game against Lyon at home, when they scored the goal, then had some issues and drew." Had Marseille won these games, they would have been close to the title.
"I just think they were really unlucky, they should have been in the Champions League spots. They needed to keep Bielsa and sign a couple more players, because Andre Ayew and Andre-Pierre Gignac were really important for them, and then they can do something this year. But the only thing ... it's really hard to compete with Paris, with the money they have."
Having become accustomed to watching "Bielsa" football, Nasri loves watching teams that replicate his style: particularly those influenced by Guardiola.
"If you look at Barcelona, and the way they press high, or Bayern Munich, the way they press high ... that's what makes them the best teams, because when they lose the ball, in the first three seconds, that's when they get the ball back, really, really high.
"But then we have a different style of play. Juventus, it's gonna be like Italian defensive rigour but it's nice to watch, because football isn't just about technique and flow. Real Madrid, they are the best counter-attacking team in the world. Paris, I like the way they play ... there are different styles. If you really love football, you love all these different styles of play."
As for Manchester City, Nasri enjoys the fluidity of Manuel Pellegrini's system and serving as the classic, "drifting" playmaker Pellegrini always loves. The Chilean brought the best out of Santi Cazorla and Isco in Spain; he's now helping David Silva and Nasri thrive, too.
"We play with two playmakers in a 4-4-2, whether I play right or left it's the same role, a lot of freedom. [Pellegrini] doesn't ask me to be a winger, to dribble out wide and cross the ball. I drift inside with David, to open up space for the full-backs to get in behind.
"It's a bit different at Arsenal because [at Man City] we have two strikers, so my role on the team is to pass the ball to the strikers. At Arsenal, it was 4-3-3, so when you play out wide you're a striker, so you go in behind more. Here, the strikers go in behind, so you're the one who has to organise the game and be the playmaker.
"As an offensive player, they ask me to create chances. You have to be precise in the last third, and that's one of my qualities. I try to be precise with my passes but take some risks as well."
Nasri's best performance last season came against Everton, on a rare occasion he was deployed in a central No. 10 role. "All my younger years I was a No. 10, in the national team I used to play No. 10, and Marseille I used to play No. 10. I like to play off the striker, I like to have a lot of freedom, I can go everywhere.
"I remember that [Everton] game well because it was a good game for me, one of the rare moments last year! It was a season to forget. Let's be honest, a season without silverware is difficult, especially as we won the double [league and Capital One Cup] the year before. On a personal note, being injured four times during the season is a lot.
"But it's a season that made me stronger personally, and I realised certain things, like what I need to do to be fully fit all the time. I hope this season I'm going to bring something to the team. I'm a proud player, and I didn't want to waste one year of my career."
Having spent the past seven years in English football, Nasri has been positively surprised at the development of the Premier League since his move from Ligue 1 in 2008.
"I think it's become a more technical league than it used to be. When I first arrived, I was shocked with the intensity and the physical aspect of the game. Now we have a lot more Hispanic players, the game is evolving, and I think it's for the best. I really like the league, I still think we have the best league in the world."
In particular, Nasri identifies an improvement in the organisational ability of opponents, and how they prepare tactically for individual tasks. The task of getting in behind opponents has become much more difficult.
"For a time, it wasn't that hard. Now everyone has a service from the club, with videos, to look at every single team, the way they play, the organisation -- stuff like that.
"Before you play a team like Crystal Palace, you know you're going to suffer because they'll play a 4-5-1, they'll wait for you, they'll park the bus. And with other teams as well, it's become more and more and more difficult to find the 'key' to beat the team, and that's really interesting for the league, so it's more difficult [for City to break down opponents]."
It's unusual to find a current footballer analysing matches in such depth, and Nasri's enthusiasm for the game means he's likely to remain in football after his playing days are over.
"I've been into football since I was 5 years old ... what I know best is football, so I don't want to reinvent myself into something else. I want to try to give back what football has given me, so maybe I'll go into coaching, and pass my badges.
"[At City] I have the perfect example, Patrick Vieira. He's someone who wasn't really like that but now he's really into it, and when I talk to him about it, he's really enjoying it."
Of course, it's not something Nasri needs to think about now. Besides, with his determination to keep learning by watching football -- as well as playing it -- the City midfielder might be a few years away from his peak.