Cheick Doucoure exclusive interview: Crystal Palace midfielder discusses his journey from Africa to Selhurst Park

It's the early 2000s and Cheick Doucoure is about to take his first steps as a baby.

"This is a story my father told me," he tells Sky Sports. "I hadn't started walking yet, so he waited on one side of the room with a football. Then I just stood up, walked towards it and took it."

The now-Crystal Palace midfielder was effectively reading the game when he was still in his nappies - so, looking at Doucoure's form since coming to the Premier League, it's no surprise to see him doing the same at this level.

Last season's debut campaign in England saw him rank second, only behind Declan Rice, for Premier League interceptions across the whole division. He was also in the top 10 midfielders for tackles, clearances and winning the ball in the defensive third.

This season, he has started the season with similarly high numbers. No wonder it was reported that Liverpool were interested in him late in the summer transfer window just gone.

"I don't have a secret!" says the 22-year-old when asked about those stats. "It's the work on the training pitch. I always try to get better, by watching videos of some of the best Premier League midfielders. I learn from that and then continue to work.

"I watch a lot of N'Golo Kante from when he was at Chelsea and Leicester. He's someone who did a lot running, he was always in the duels and interceptions. Yaya Toure too, I've watched him all the time since he was younger."

So from that moment when he walked for the first time as a toddler, Doucoure had to become the footballer he has gone on to be.

But not because it was fate, or he was drawn to that career very early on in life, but because his family had to find some income.

Despite being born in Mali, Doucoure grew up in the Abidjan area of the Ivory