Dele Alli revealed he was selling dealing drugs at 8 and Molested by his mom’s friend at 6 during interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap

Dele Alli revealed he was selling dealing drugs at 8 and Molested by his mom’s friend at 6 during interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap.

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 – and from then, it was like – 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. They were amazing, and they’ve helped me a lot, and that was another thing, you know – when I started living with them, it was hard for me to really open up to them, because I felt within myself, it was easy to get rid of me again. Alli added that he hopes by speaking out he can help others that have suffered similar abuse.

And he said a six-week spell in rehab has helped rekindle his passion to get 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,” he said.

“I was in a bad place. A lot happened when I was younger that I could never understand.”

His time at Tottenham shone a light on one of the sport’s brightest talents but, with problems both on and off the pitch, it was difficult for Alli to maintain.

And now, in an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap, Alli gave an insight into some of the harrowing incidents that have affected both his life and career.

‘[My childhood is] something I haven’t really spoken about that much, to be honest,’ he said. ‘I mean, I think there were a few incidents that could give you kind of a brief understanding.