Sun Jihai admits he is still struggling to adapt to life in England, five years after arriving from China.
The Manchester City defender has endured a miserable season thanks to a succession of injuries, but his downbeat mood is not just connected to fitness concerns.
Sun, who signed for City from Dalian Wanda in 2002, has revealed that he has failed to bridge the cultural divide separating his native and adopted countries and still pines for a return to China.
"I have been here for five years and I don't feel at all integrated into English life and culture," he said. "The only reason I am here is football."
"My family and I, we don't like the life here and we don't speak very good English. My two daughters go to the nursery and school and we don't know the culture," Sun said, "We are scared, we do things wrong because the culture is different. For example, you need to bring a birthday cake when the children are in the nursery but we don't do that in China."
"The other parents think you are rude but that's the culture -- a different culture. It would be the same if an English person went to China: he might do things that people find rude but he thinks it is normal," he added.
Sun is short on company in the Premiership. Just three other Chinese players, Charlton's Zheng Zhi, Sheffield United's Li Tie and Manchester United's Dong Fangzhuo, currently ply their trade in England's top flight, although none are regular starters with their clubs.
Dong's arrival at Old Trafford sparked a huge surge of interest in his native country and also provided Sun with some much needed company.
"Dong and I played for the same club and we speak the same dialect," Sun said. "We have the same friend who owns a restaurant and does the same food for us."
"Dong rents a property close to my home so I talk to him all the time and have meals with him. He is on his own at the moment and doesn't have a wife or relatives here so sometimes I look after him," he added.
"It's difficult to say whether there will be more Chinese players coming over to England. Everybody knows the Premiership is one of the best in the world and the Chinese league is quite low in comparison," Sun said. "But a lot of Chinese boys want to play football and with 1.3 billion people there should be some good players. Certainly some can come and play in the Premiership like I did."
For Sun, there is at least a chink of light at the end of a long, dark season. His knee injury -- which has resulted in him making just one Premiership appearance all season -- has healed and he is in contention for today's meeting with Blackburn Rovers.
"I'm definitely delighted to be back," he said. "I never thought I would not get back fit. I'm quite a positive person and the club doctor said I would come back with my knee."
"Now the main thing for me is to get 100 percent fit and take the chance I have to play. I'm happy even if I'm on the bench because the gaffer needs me and the team needs me," he said.
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