At six, I was molested...: Dele Alli opens up on TOUGH life lessons with Gary Neville

Dele Alli, the footballer who was once considered one of England's most promising talents, revealed on Thursday, July 13, that he had recently finished his spell in rehab for curing a sleeping pill addiction. Alli sat down with Manchester United legend and former England right-back Gary Neville to have a conversation on 'The Overlap'podcast and talked in detail about his troubled childhood, explaining that the unresolved trauma of suffering sexual abuse as a child led to his later addiction.

Alli shared harrowing tales of his traumatic childhood

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"(My childhood is) something I haven't really spoken about that much, to be honest. I mean, I think there were a few incidents that could give you kind of a brief understanding," Alli said.

Alli first tasted Premier League football in 2015 and scored on his debut against Leicester City at the King Power stadium for Tottenham. He would then go on to form a formidable partnership with Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane as Spurs enjoyed a brilliant next four years.

"So, at six, I was molested by my mum's friend, who was at the house a lot. My mum was an alcoholic, and that happened at six. I was sent to Africa to learn discipline, and then I was sent back."

"At seven, I started smoking, eight I started dealing drugs. An older person told me that they wouldn't stop a kid on a bike, so I rode around with my football, and then underneath I'd have the drugs, that was eight. Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate, a man."

"Twelve, I was adopted... I was adopted by an amazing family like I said, I couldn't have asked for better people to do what they'd done for me. If God created people, it was them," he added.

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Alli, 27, was one of former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino's trusted men in midfield and helped the team reach the 2019 Champions League final. He was also part of the England squad that reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 where he scored twice for the national side including a goal in the last eight against Sweden. However, his career has since been on a downward trend, falling out of favour with new managers at Spurs including Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte which prompted hismove to Everton, who loaned him to Besiktas in 2022, where he failed to rediscover his form for the Turkish side.

He decided to speak on his struggles so as to start a dialogue and help others who might have suffered abuse. The rehab spell has done him a lot of good as it helped to fuel his love and passion for the beautiful game, with the objective of getting his football career back on track.

"Going into rehab is definitely scary but I could never have imagined how much I would get from it and how much it would help me mentally. I was in a bad place. A lot happened when I was younger that I could never understand," added an emotional Alli.

The player emphasised the fact that the dangers of sleeping pill addiction are widespread, as many footballers are using prescribed tablets before and after matches.

"To take a sleeping tablet and be ready for the next day is fine, but when you're broken as I am, it can obviously have the reverse effect because it does work for the problems you want to deal with," he said.

He struggled in Turkey, scoring twice in 13 games before returning to Everton in April 2023 with an injury that required surgery. His last appearance in a Besiktas shirt was against Antalyaspor on February 26.

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