The Everton British footballer recalls the most complex passages of his life, after a season during which he hardly played. The flyer acknowledges that he recently decided to go to hospital to deal with mental health issues.
Dele Alli shows his unknown side. The British footballer, who has lost prominence in Europe’s footballing elite in recent years, recounts the hardest passages of his childhood. In conversation with former player Gary Neville, for his podcast The Overlap , Tottenham’s former promise says he was sexually abused as a child. “It was at the age of six, a friend of my mother, who was at home a lot,” he recalls.
The Everton midfielder is far from the athlete that emerged during his early years at Spurs. Last season he didn’t play a starring role as he was sent on loan to Besiktas where injuries halted his progress. His bad football moment led him to drink and take pills to fight insomnia. Once he realized his deteriorating health He decided to enter.
“I’m afraid to talk about it. When I came back from Turkey and found that I needed an operation, I was mentally very ill and decided to go to a rehabilitation center. They treat addictions and trauma. I felt it was my moment. They can’t tell you to go, you have to know and make the decision yourself otherwise it won’t work,” he acknowledges.

In this sense, the midfielder looks back on his past and remembers the most complex passages of his life. “At the age of seven, I started smoking; when I was eight, I started selling drugs. An elderly person told me that she wouldn’t stop a child on a bicycle, so I rode with my soccer ball, then underneath I carried the substances. At eleven o’clock they hung me from a bridge. He was a guy from the neighboring district, ”he says.
All these traumas remain in the memory of the man born in Milton Keynes. However, he knows his life took a positive turn after he was adopted at age 12. “They’re an amazing family, I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they did for me. If God made people, it was them,” he says.
Despite the opportunities he had at his second home, Dele Alli is honest and points out that despite loving football, he considered quitting the job. “One morning I got up and had to go to practice. I remember looking in the mirror and wondering if I could retire now. With 24 years. Do what I love. For me, it was heartbreaking. It’s always been me against myself in everything. I was trapped in a bad cycle and in things that hurt me,” he says.
English recognizes the importance that Mauricio Pochettino when deciding whether to continue related to the activity. The Argentine technical director is the one who opted for the footballer and took him to the Premier League. “He was the best coach and I couldn’t have asked for a better manager at the time. It was not like a relationship between a player and a coach. I felt like it was deeper than that. He understood the decisions I was making and guided me. He cared about me as a person before football,” he says.
Following the candid conversation between Dele Alli and Gary Neville, various football personalities have left messages of support for the former England team. “Proud of Dele, for speaking out and sharing his experience to try to help others,” he wrote. Harry Kane, his former teammate of the London box.
follow on Jock
Source: Latercera

I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.