What was the best moment of your career?
Winning the Football Players' Player of the Year award in 1999 when I was with Tottenham. It was a special achievement after a 10-year career. When you reach 32 or 33 years old, people are looking at you as if you are a luxury and an old player, so it was really nice to receive an award voted for by the players. It was also the season Manchester United won the treble, so it was flattering. George Graham was the manager and people were telling me that he wasn't the right manager for me, but everything went well and we won the League Cup. When my son went to school, one of his teachers told him that he was a Spurs supporter and a big fan of mine, and that every time I got the ball I provided value for money. That was a very good compliment. Sometimes players forget that football is about entertainment. People pay significant money to watch games and we have to give them something back.
What was your worst moment?
When France failed to qualify for the World Cup in the United States in 1994. We were eliminated by Bulgaria and I took the whole thing on my shoulders. Gerard Houllier, the France manager, went on TV to say that we were not going to America because of me. From the age of eight I was taught that football was about the team, about 11 players winning or 11 players losing and not about only one player. All of a sudden I realised that wasn't true any more. After that World Cup qualifier in November 1993, I played for my club, Paris Saint-Germain, and at away games I was booed and whistled at wherever I played. I kept working on my game and had a great season, even though I had been made the scapegoat for not reaching the World Cup finals. At the end of the season the players and journalists voted me player of the year in France.
Who was the best opponent you faced?
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Lee Dixon of Arsenal. I played against him for Newcastle. He was tough, on my back all the time, tackling me, talking to me and doing everything to try to annoy me. He was pulling my shirt and I tried to get him off me and my elbow hit his cheek, he fell over and the referee gave me a red card. I couldn't believe it. I was banned for two or three games. He was a tough, sharp player with a strong presence.
Who was the best manager you played under?
I had many managers who worked and acted in different ways: Kevin Keegan, Gerry Francis, David Pleat, Christian Gross, George Graham. Each has given me something. I would take a bit of them all and you would have the perfect manager.
What was the worst thing about being a footballer?
Some people who are not in football believe you cannot hold a conversation regarding other aspects of life, that you cannot talk or think.
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What was your most embarrassing off-field moment?
I posed naked for the great photographer Mario Testino, for a French magazine. I did not realise the magazine would appear all over the country with me naked on the front page and it took a while for things to settle down. When I arrived in England, Testino held an exhibition of all his photos and I was there between pictures of the Princess of Wales and Madonna, three metres by two, naked and in the middle of the art gallery surrounded by very famous people. That was a little embarrassing because I was the only one naked.
What was your worst hair day?
People talked so much about my hair when I was doing the L'Oréal shampoo adverts. Then I went back to France to act in a short movie about the French Foreign Legion and I had to shave my head. At the age of 36 it was the first time in my life that I had my head shaved. People were taking pictures of me for souvenirs. When I did my 12-month national service in the French army, I went to the army hairdresser and he said, 'Oh my God, David, I can't touch your hair' So he cut a little, then a little more, but he couldn't cut any after that. So even in the army I had long hair.
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
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I am 42 years old. A month ago my wife, Coraline, and I, and our son Andrea and daughter Carla, moved from the south of France to live in a house in London's West End. I pay my congestion charge and my council tax and my kids go to school in London. We are starting to eat beans on toast and jellied eels. The quality of life in southern France is brilliant but there are more opportunities for me in London. We still have our vineyard in France and hope to sell our award-winning wine in Britain. I am also involved in a television channel called Footschool TV, a coaching channel that we are hoping to get shown on the major European channels. I need football and would love to be back in the game. I am also involved in a lot of charities, including the Red Cross anti-personnel landmines campaign. When you go to places like Cambodia you meet people who are thinking about where they are going to get their next meal rather than holidays in three months' time. It opens your heart and you look at life in a different way. My wife and I are also becoming patrons for the Vision Charity.