Dele Alli opens up on sexual abuse, becoming a drug dealer at 8
Former Tottenham Hotspur and England footballer Dele Alli sat down for a chat with Gary Neville for “The Overlap.” During this, he opened up on the various experiences that have plagued his mental health, including his experience with sexual assault and becoming a drug dealer at the age of eight.
Gary Neville addressed his time working with Dele as part of the coaching staff for England, admitting that he didn’t and still doesn’t know much of his past. That’s when Dele offered some insight into his past traumas.
“Something I haven’t really spoke about that much to be honest, I mean I think there was a few incidents that can give you kind of a brief understanding,” he said. “So at six (years old), I was molested by my mum’s friend who was at the house a lot. So my mum was an alcoholic…”
Both Dele and Neville teared up at this stage before the Everton midfielder continued:
“So that happened at six, and then I was sent to Africa to learn discipline, then I was sent back. Seven I started smoking, eight I started dealing drugs.”
He explained to Neville how he was hooked into such a life at that age:
“An older person told me that they wouldn’t stop a kid on a bike so I’d ride around with my football and then underneath I’d have the drugs, and yeah, so that was eight. 11 I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate. 12 I was adopted.”
Watch the full interview below:
Where is Dele Alli with regards to football?
Dele Alli joined Everton from Tottenham on an initial free transfer during the January window in 2022. The deal would have seen Everton spend £40 million if certain performance benchmarks were met and he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract, running until the end of this coming season. He only made 13 appearances since signing with Everton, recording no goal contributions in that time.
Alli moved on loan to Turkish side Besiktas during the 2022-23 season. Despite scoring his first goal in over a year on his second appearance for the club, the England international has not played since late February. In April, he returned to Everton to assess the current injury he is dealing with.
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