Premier League holds no fears, says Boateng
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Having faced Carlos Tevez and won on Saturday, Jerome Boateng already has already made an impression on Manchester City and the club's latest new signing said on Saturday that he was ready for the challenge of the Premier League.
Boateng, 21, cost City £11m when they signed him from Hamburg last month and has been impressive for Germany. He is chiefly a central defender and excelled against Argentina at right-back helping to neutralise the threat of Lionel Messi and Tevez. He is the half-brother of Kevin-Prince Boateng, the Portsmouth midfielder and Ghana international, with whom he shares the same Ghanaian father.
Boateng said: "I have no fear about playing against anybody in the Premier League. I want to come to the Premier League because it is the best in the world and I want to learn even more. I am lucky I can make the step. I am playing against some of the best players in the World Cup and that is good preparation for the Premier League. Messi is the best player in the world and to do such a good job against him is a really good feeling.
"It is good to know that people in England and Manchester City fans are watching me and know about me. I am lucky to play in this German team – we want to go step by step and reach the final now. We beat a big country in England and now we have beaten another big country, Argentina. We go forward."
His new team-mate Tevez would not discuss whether he will push for a move away from Manchester City this summer after differences with Roberto Mancini over last season. He said that Argentina's problem was that they had failed to play as a team and were over-reliant on individuals.
Tevez said: "We have some of the top players in the world. Germany doesn't have top players and Holland doesn't have top players, but they won their games and made it as a team.
"It's not a total failure for us because until Saturday we were one of the favourites and I don't think just because we lost this game we should forget everything else.
"We didn't play as a team and that was our big problem. We knew Germany would play counter-attack, like they did against England, and our mistake was not stopping that.
"It's [Diego] Maradona's decision what he does next. I don't know what will happen and I don't want to talk about it. In a World Cup, you wake up one day from the wrong side of the bed and then you go home."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments