Alleyne explains decision to play football over cricket

How does the son of an international cricketer end up being a professional footballer?

Manchester City defender Max Alleyne played a pivotal role in the club's Premier League 2 title win this season and collected the elite development squad's player of the year award.

The Alleyne name might be familiar to those who watched cricket in the 1990s, as Max's dad Mark - an all-rounder - featured in 10 one day internationals for England.

Asked how he ended up in football, Max told BBC Sport: "He was never pushy with what I did and wanted to do. I really enjoyed football growing up.

"It's that sport mentality, my mum is a nutritionist as well so from the get-go I had the right advice and right food going in me. It made it easier to transition into professional sport.

"For me it's easy to switch off. When I go home and leave the training ground I can switch off. Not think about football as well, it's important to have that time to yourself and go again."

Max says he prefers watching golf rather than cricket, which his dad may be "fuming" with, and never had to choose which sport he wanted to take up.

He added: "I never really played cricket, I was from quite a small village so there was never really the opportunity. I just played football. I loved it so kept playing."

The 19-year-old was linked with a move to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund in January.

Asked about his future, he said: "We will see. Hopefully playing for this club - there's a pathway to the first team from the academy

"I've got to go away, hopefully go on the Club World Cup trip and show the manager what I can do."