Soccer legend Rudi Völler once said you could become the next Michael Ballack. That must have been flattering...

Yes but he said that two-and-a-half years ago. Or has he repeated it recently?

I'm not sure. But since he said it, you've come on leaps and bounds as a player haven't you?

When he made that comment, I'd just moved to Leverkusen. He was referring more to the position I play, which is similar to Ballack's. I'm neither an out-and-out defensive midfielder nor an out-and-out attacking midfielder -- but somewhere in-between. No one has played that position since Ballack left Leverkusen.

So you have to be a master of defensive and attacking football. So on the pitch how does it work out on balance: do you spend more of your time defending or attacking?

Well it generally depends on the system. For example, when I play for Germany, the midfield is more or less a flat row of four. So the two central midfielders have to clean up at the back AND drive the game forward, supporting the strikers. But when we play the diamond formation, I have a much more defensive role.

Which do you prefer?

I like a mixture. I think I'm quite good at both as well. I'm a solid defender AND I like launching attacks and testing the opposition defence. I'm not a strong dribbler. I don't play with my back to the goal and try to go through with the ball at my feet. I prefer to attack from a deeper position, approaching at speed and with the game in front of me.

Sure it was a real honour to be named captain when Carsten Ramelow and Bernd Schneider were out injured. I'm certainly not the loudest or most extrovert player out on the pitch. But because of my style of play, I think I'm good at driving a game forward, and I've grown in confidence in the role. I settled in very quickly at Leverkusen and it didn't take that long to win a place in the team. I've also been given enough space and time to develop. Those are the main reasons I think the coach gave me the captain's armband.

What are your ambitions for Euro 2008? You've played for Germany seven times now and have recently become a regular in the squad.

Sure, there's no doubt about it. But there is a lot of competition in midfield. The coming months will be crucial. If I play well for the remainder of the Bundesliga season, I'm confident of making it into the Euro squad.

What's it like as a 25-year-old earning 1.4 million euros a year? What do you do with all that money?

How do you know that? Have you seen my salary slip?

No but it's been widely reported by the press.

Well the papers don't always print the truth. Of course we earn a lot of money, but I'm not going to say how much.

What I mean is that it's not all that long since you were an amateur. You also seem like the sort of guy who could talk about the issue of money -- and about how it feels to suddenly earn so much. Regardless of whether it's 1.4 million or 900,000 euros: it's a lot of money. How do you deal with that? Do you have people advising you how to invest it? Or do people tell you to go and spend, spend, spend?

I've never been the sort of person to blow all my money on something. I was brought up to be frugal. As a kid I never had much money and I always looked after it carefully. I never needed much, and when I was a teenager, I didn't want the best clothes or stacks of CDs or whatever. And that hasn't changed. Of course I can now afford to buy something special every now and then. I certainly don't have to save every penny. But I'm not the spend, spend, spend sort of person.

Do you donate a lot of it to charity? I know you do charitable work for cancer sufferers.

When I was playing at Aachen I set up a charity called The Aachen Angels. That came about after I visited the children's cancer ward at the Aachen Clinic with my old teammate Christian Fiel. We decided to form a charity to provide financial support for cancer sufferers.

Is it true that you can kick the ball in the air 4,500 times?

Yes, when I was sixteen.

Can't you do it anymore?

Of course I can. In terms of the footballing skill required, I could definitely do it. But you have to practice hard, especially to maintain your concentration. It's not so much a question of physical ability as of mental aptitude. I used to practice a lot back then, but I don't do it every day anymore.

Well you have my total admiration for being able to do that. But it must be quite boring kick a ball in the air 4,500 times. It must take forever?

Yes, 45 minutes to an hour, it is quite long.