In an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap, Dele Alli revealed how childhood trauma had contributed to the problems he has encountered in recent years. “There were a few incidents that can give you a brief understanding,” he said. “At six, I was molested by my mum’s friend who was at the house a lot. My mum was an alcoholic.” “I was sent to Africa to learn discipline.

Then I was sent back. Seven, I started smoking. Eight I started dealing drugs, selling drugs. An older person told me they wouldn’t stop a kid so I’d ride around with my football and then underneath I’d have the drugs. “Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate. At 12, I was adopted. And from then, I was adopted by an amazing family, I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’ve done for me…If God created people, it was them. They are amazing and have helped me a lot.” Alli also revealed he had received treatment for addiction this summer. “I got addicted to sleeping tablets and it’s probably not a problem only I have. I think it’s something that’s going around more than people realise in football.” The England international, who spent last season on loan at Besiktas, added: “Now is probably the right time to tell people. It’s tough to talk about it as it’s quite recent and something I’ve hid for a long time and I’m scared to talk about. When I came back from Turkey, I came back and found out I needed an operation. “I was in a bad place mentally. I decided to go to a modern rehab facility that deals with addiction and mental health and trauma. I felt it was time for me. You can’t be told to go there, you have to make the decision yourself. “I was in a bad cycle. I was relying on things that were doing me harm. I was waking up every day, winning the fight going into training every day smiling – willing to show I was happy. Inside I was losing the battle and it was time to change. When I was told I needed surgery I could feel the feelings I had when the cycle began.

Dele’s best form at Spurs came under the club’s former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who was replaced by Jose Mourinho in November 2019. “Pochettino – I couldn’t have asked for a better manager, him and his team are amazing people,” said Dele. “It wasn’t like a footballer and a manager relationship, it was deeper than that and that was what I needed at the time. “He was so understanding of the decisions I was making. He cared about me as a person before the football.” Dele said his “saddest moment” came when he was 24, now playing under Mourinho. He added: “One morning I woke up and I had to go to training – this is when he’d stopped playing me – and I was in a bad place. “I was literally staring in the mirror and I was asking if I could retire now, at 24, doing the thing I love. That was heartbreaking.” He added Mourinho did apologise for calling him “lazy” in the All or Nothing documentary. Dele said he wanted “to help other people to let them know that they’re not alone in the feelings that they’ve got”. “You can talk to people. It doesn’t make you weak to get help, to be vulnerable – there’s a lot of strength in that. To come out and share my story, I’m happy to do it,” he said. On the playing front, Dele expects to be sidelined for “another few weeks” before trying to show he still has the ability to perform in the Premier League. “I want to be a better player, a better person,” he said. “I look back and I did good, but I’m not satisfied with that. You can’t drive your car looking in the rear view mirror. The journey from here is just exciting for me.”