It is not very often that a Premier League footballer talks about wanting to see the Loch Ness monster, although this interview with Miguel Pérez Cuesta, or Michu as he is more commonly known, is always going to be a new experience from the moment we start typing words such as "coal mining" and "humildad" into Google translate.

Michu, the Premier League's joint leading scorer, is an intriguing character, full of surprises. He has found the perfect home at Swansea City, even if he misses the taste of Spanish ham and is wrestling with the language. "My English is horrible," he says as he pulls up a chair at the club's training ground. His English is actually much better than he makes out, although it soon becomes clear that Michu has a habit of underplaying his ability. At one point he claims he is worth no more than £4m, despite the fact that he scored more goals in La Liga last season than any other midfielder and has plundered four in four games in the Premier League.

Bought for £2m from Rayo Vallecano in July, Michu was an absolute steal and is already being talked about as the best signing of the summer. "Thank you so much," Michu says, sounding genuinely surprised to hear he is so popular. "There are a lot of good signings this summer – [Robin] Van Persie and [Santi] Cazorla. But if people think this I am very happy. To work with Michael Laudrup [Swansea's manager] is good for me. There's only one problem here: the weather. But I love this team, I love this country and I love this city."

Although Michu's impact has not come as much of a surprise to those who have followed his progress over the past 12 months – he scored 15 league goals for a team that avoided relegation on the final day – it is incredible to think that Swansea faced so little competition for his signature and were able to pay next to nothing for a 26-year-old attacking midfielder in the form of his life. "But Rayo have no money, so £2m is like 'Wow!'" Michu says. "I went on a free to Rayo and if they go down [at the end of last season] I am free again. Also there are a lot of crises in Spain — Rayo's economy is catastrophic. I can tell you that £2m is very good for them. I think my price at the top is only £4m."

While Michu seems to have little grasp of his value, there is no doubt that his former club were grateful for whatever money they could get. To give an idea of just how bad the financial problems were at Rayo last season, when they travelled to Real Sociedad it took more than five hours because they had to take the scenic route. "We had no money to pay [for] the toll roads. It was crazy," Michu says, shaking his head.

That season at Rayo, however, was the making of Michu. His career had never really taken off and at one point, when he was a teenager trying to break through with his hometown club, Real Oviedo, he enrolled on a four-year degree at university studying business administration. He completed the first 12 months but decided to pursue his dream of being a professional footballer and went on to spend several seasons with Oviedo in the lower divisions before joining Celta Vigo.

In 2010 Sporting Gijon presented him with a lucrative long-term deal, including the chance to play in La Liga for the first time, but Michu, in an extraordinary show of loyalty to the club he has supported since he was a small child, turned the offer down. "I could have signed a five-year contract and had more money, but I'm from Oviedo and Sporting is our rival, so I can't play at Sporting," Michu says. "I know [it's unusual]. But Oviedo is my team. Whether they are in the third, second or first division, that never changes."

About 18 months later it looked as though another opportunity had slipped through his fingers when he missed from the spot in a penalty shoot-out to win promotion via the play-offs. Rayo, however, came in for him that summer and Michu, playing under José Ramón Sandoval, the club's coach at the time, was given the confidence to thrive.

"Sandoval was like a father – he was very important for why I am here now," Michu says. "I believe in myself, but the most important thing is that the trainer believes in you. When I stayed in Celta Vigo for years, I played one Sunday and then two Sundays on the bench – it's not possible to go to the top. At Rayo Vallecano I played all the minutes. You have the confidence and you can explode, scoring 15 goals. Here I have a lot of confidence from Michael: play, play, play."

A tall, elegant player, Michu has that knack of arriving in the penalty area at the right time, but he is also prepared to graft, which was why Sandoval liked him so much that he had a picture of him in his office. "I feel I have two important qualities that represent me: I am a worker and I have humildad [humility]," Michu says ahead of Saturday's home game against Everton. "When I arrive at the dressing room people might say: 'You played very bad'. But what I can say is all that I can give is out there on the pitch. When I arrive at the changing room I have died."

His eyes light up when he talks about the Premier League. Michu has relished the chance to play in front of full stadiums and he says the way that the television money is distributed here makes the league far more competitive than in Spain. "In England, more or less all the teams have good money. In Spain, it's only Barcelona and Madrid. We can't compete against Barcelona, it's impossible. If you play 100 games, you can win only one. Here, you can win against Manchester United or Manchester City. OK, it's very difficult. But you can win."

Swansea's remarkable result at Queens Park Rangers on the opening day was proof that the unexpected can happen. Michu laughs as he recalls how Angel Rangel, one of three other Spaniards at the club, told him beforehand that Swansea always struggle at Loftus Road and had stressed how difficult it was to draw, let alone win, away in the Premier League. A couple of hours later Michu got back on the coach and looked at Rangel as if he was mad. He had scored twice in a 5-0 rout. "It was like a dream," Michu says.

It was the sort of performance that could not have gone unnoticed back home, especially on the back of a sensational season in La Liga, although Michu is pragmatic about his prospects of a Spain call-up. "In a lot of national teams if you scored 15 goals you would go to the team. But in Spain it's very difficult. They are the best," he says. "It's a big honour for me that Vicente del Bosque [the coach] talked about me. But there is Villa, Torres, Silva, Cazorla, Mata, Llorente, Pedro, Iniesta, Xavi... a lot of good players. I fight for the dream, but it's not my decision."

In the meantime he will continue enjoying life in south Wales, which feels like home from home. Asturias, the region of northern Spain where Michu is from, has long been associated with coal mining and steel production and is also popular with tourists because of its rugged coastline and green valleys. "Wales on steroids" was how one travel writer described the area. "They are very, very similar places," Michu says, after la minería del carbón came to our rescue. "And it does make it much easier for me to acclimatise here."

Indeed, it is a measure of just how comfortable Michu feels on and off the pitch that he has ventured into a city centre pub to watch football on a couple of occasions and he is already talking about wanting to "play in the Premier League all my career". He is also looking forward to travelling around Britain and taking in some tourist attractions. "I have no time at the moment. But I want to know Wales and Manchester and London," he says. "And I want to go to Loch Ness … I want to see if I can find the monster!"