DELE ALLI has revealed in a brave and heartbreaking interview that he became addicted to sleeping pills following his nightmare stint in Turkey.
The England international returned to Everton in April after injury cut short his season-long loan with Turkish giants Besiktas.
Alli, 27, found himself on a downward spiral after returning to England, excessively drinking and consuming sleeping pills.
And in a desperate bid to get himself back on the straight and narrow, he checked himself into a rehab facility.
During an appearance on The Overlap with Gary Neville, he revealed: “Now is the right time for me to tell people what’s been going on.
“It’s tough to talk about because it’s something I’ve hid for a long time.
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“I’m scared to talk about it.
“When I came back from Turkey I found out I needed an operation I was in a bad place mentally and I decided to go to a modern day rehab facility for mental health.
“They deal with addiction and trauma. I felt it was time for me.
“You can’t be told to go there – you have to know and make the decision yourself or it’s not going to work.
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“I was caught in a bad cycle and things that were doing me harm.”
Alli – who also revealed he was sexually abused by a friend of his mum as a child – said his decision to check into rehab was fully supported by Everton, who gave him additional help during the difficult time.
He said: “Everton were amazing and supported 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.”
Alli’s once-promising career has been on a downward trajectory for the last few years.
And he admits his downturn had him contemplating retirement at the age of 24.
The former Tottenham man said: “One morning I woke up and I had to go training.
“I remember staring in the mirror and I was asking if I could retire now. At 24. Doing the thing I love.
“For me that was heartbreaking.”
He added: “It’s always been me against myself in everything.
“I was winning the fight, showing I was happy. But inside, I was losing the battle.”
Overlap host Neville shared a tweet that called the conversation “the most emotional, difficult yet inspirational conversation I’ve ever had in my life”.
Footie fans got to see what Alli was like off the pitch in Amazon’s 2020 All or Nothing documentary on Tottenham.
But the former MK Dons ace was far from happy with the light the producers cast him in.
He said: “I’m glad you asked me about that [Jose Mourinho calling me lazy].
It’s always been me against myself in everything
Dele Alli
“So that lazy comment people all love to bring that up, that interview obviously that was on Amazon.
“He called me lazy – that was the day after recovery day.
“A week later, he apologised to me for calling me lazy because he’d seen me actually train and play.
“But that wasn’t in the documentary, and no one spoke up about that because it was only me and him.
“In the team meeting, he called me lazy but then one on one, I think it was on the pitch he apologised for it.
“And I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I know myself – I’m not lazy.”
Alli was one of the first Everton senior players to return to pre-season training last week.
But manager Sean Dyche recently refused to be drawn on the midfielder’s future after his arrival at Goodison Park.
He said of Alli: “He is not here. He has an injury which will keep him out for some time.
“Some of the stuff reported – they know what they should and shouldn’t be doing.
“As a manager, you cannot control everything in their lives.
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“Should we be following them all day? You can only guide them.
“He has an injury which will take a while to sort out – it will be a number of weeks.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
