5 emotional confessions from brave Dele Alli interview that left Gary Neville in tears

Everton midfielder Dele Alli has bravely discussed everything from childhood trauma to the moment he felt his career was heading in the wrong direction with Gary Neville

Dele Alli’s career has suffered a downward spiral since leaving Spurs in 2022 (

Image: Getty Images)

Dele Alli has courageously spoken out for the first time about the off-field issues that have stalled what was once a career that seemed destined for prolonged greatness.

The Everton star sat down with Manchester United legend Gary Neville for a hard-hitting, emotional conversation that left the former Red Devils right-back in tears. Neville has since described the interview as “the most emotional, difficult yet inspirational conversation I’ve ever had in my life.”

Dele had the world at his feet during the Mauricio Pochettino era at Spurs, but things have been on a downward spiral for a few years now. Until the interview with Neville, who actually worked with Dele at international level, few had heard the midfielder give his side of the story.

With that being said, Mirror Football has identified five of the most eye-opening and heartbreaking revelations made by Dele during the discussion.

Childhood trauma Gary Neville is reduced to tears by Dele Alli’s account (

Image:

TheOverlap/Youtube)

In what was the most emotional part of the whole conversation, Dele told Neville how he was molested at just six years of age.

Speaking on The Overlap, he explained: “It is something I haven’t really spoken about. There were a few instances. At six, I was molested.” The revelation moved Neville to tears, who reached out to comfort Dele, who was also visibly moved.

The host was also quick to support Dele and added: “You don’t need to be sorry. I feel the fact you are now opening up will make people realise this is something that has been stored inside you, caged, for 15-20 years.”

The Everton midfielder also shared how he was sent to Africa to live with his birth father, but returned to the UK after six months where more hardship awaited him.

“I was sent to Africa to learn discipline then I was sent back,” he said. “It was horrible, I did not want to be there. I started smoking at seven and selling drugs at eight. An older person told me they wouldn’t stop a kid so I would cycle around with my football and the drugs underneath.”

Addiction troubles

Dele shed light on how his loan spell with Turkish giants Besiktas came at a time when he was in a particularly bad place mentally, which in turn led to him checking himself into a rehab facility.

“I got addicted to sleeping tablets, it’s a problem not only I have. It’s going around more than people realise in football,” he explained.

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“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 hidden 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.”

Rehab

As aforementioned, Dele opted to seek treatment for his addiction to sleeping tablets by checking himself into rehab. He laid bare what that process was like and how he came to that decision with Neville.

“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,” he said.

Dele Alli was comforted by Gary Neville during particularly difficult parts of the interview (

Image:

TheOverlap/Youtube)

“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.

“So I went there for six weeks. Everton were amazing and supportive, I will be grateful to them forever. For them to be so honest and understanding I couldn’t ask for anything more during a time I was making the biggest decision of my life – doing something I was scared to do. I’m happy I’ve done it.”

Problems on the pitch

Dele admitted he is able to pinpoint the moment when he felt his footballing career take a significant shift in the wrong direction and he began to question just how much longer he could carry on playing.

“Probably the saddest moment for me was when [Jose] Mourinho was manager, I think I was 24, and I remember there was once a session, one morning where I woke up and had to go training – this was when he stopped playing me,” he said.

The pair never seemed to work as a manager-player duo at Tottenham, with Mourinho labelling Dele as “lazy” during the Amazon behind-the-scenes docu-series focused on the Portuguese coach’s first full season at the helm in north London.

It was a comment that seemed to stick and has plagued Dele ever since, as his stock has fallen considerably in the football world.

Thoughts of retiring Dele Alli admitted he considered retirement at 24 years of age (

Image:

TheOverlap/Youtube)

Things became so bad for Dele during the back end of his time at Spurs that he concedes he considered calling time on his playing career entirely.

He said: “I was in a bad place and I remember just looking in the mirror thinking, it sounds dramatic but I was literally staring in the mirror asking ‘Can I retire now?’, at 24, doing the thing I love, for me to even have that thought was heartbreaking, that hurt me. That hurt me a lot, that was another thing that I had to carry.”

Dele added: “That period, I was partying a lot, I was having a lot of parties. The reality of what they [the tabloids] say is not the reality. They were calling me a ‘party boy’ and all this before I was doing any of this. So, I think people’s perception of me was a lot different to the reality of what I was living. And then it got to a point where that [partying] happened, and I was in a bad place.”

* If you’re struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email _jo@samaritans.org_ or visit their site to find your local branch

* The NSPCC’s confidential 24-hour helpline is 0808 800 5000; Childline is 0800 1111. Police urge victims of sexual abuse, no matter how long ago it took place, to call 101.