AN ENGLAND star is addicted to powerful sleeping tablets and mixing them with booze during wild parties, The Sun can reveal.
The Premier League hero has been popping pack after pack of Zopiclone after buying them on the black market.
AN England football star is addicted to powerful sleeping tablets and mixing them with booze during wild parties, The Sun can revealCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The struggling England star has told pals he prefers the Class C controlled pills are not picked up by standard Premier League drug tests
And he has shocked pals by openly swallowing them with expensive champagne and vodka during illegal lockdown parties.
Friends who have regularly witnessed his behaviour during have urged him to get help before he ruins his career.
The struggling ace has told pals he prefers the Class C controlled pills are not picked up by standard Premier League drug tests.
He pops multiple tablets – available only on prescription in the UK – and mixes them with alcohol to make him feel “euphoric”.
But his habit leaves him “ineffective, drowsy and lacklustre” in training the next day.
A source invited to an illegal party this month told The Sun: “I watched him swallow zopiclone while he was boozing.
“He discarded the empty packet on the floor. Anyone could see what they were.
“I couldn’t believe it and turned to my friend, who is a team-mate.
“He told me this is why he has been struggling. He is addicted to the tablets.
“His teammates and friends are really worried. It will totally affect his game. “
The source told of the star’s cavalier drug-taking at an illegal lockdown gathering earlier this month.
The Premier League hero has been popping pack after pack of Zopiclone after buying them on the black marketCredit: Alamy
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They said: “We were told to be in a certain area at the right time, then guided to a basement nearby. We had to place our phones in a fabric pouch which had a magnetic lock.
“We kept the bag but couldn’t access our phone until we wanted to leave, and one of the organisers opened the bag using a special magnet.
“The troubled player was off his face and dancing on a coffee table. He was completely out of it and didn’t know what he was doing or saying.
“He was knocking back the booze as well. He wasn’t worried about being caught out.
“He keeps the sleeping tablets in his wash bag along with his mouthwash, and club bosses are none the wiser.
“He thinks he’s being clever because he brags the pills don’t show up on his Premier League drug tests.
“The mix of zopiclone and booze gets him high. He feels good about himself for a while.
“But the next day he feels lethargic and can’t perform to the best of his ability.
“He takes the tablets every day. He is not in a good place.
“The drugs are addictive so doctors don’t prescribe many at a time. But the footballer has got easy access via the black market. There are plenty of options for him.
“His friends and team-mates know all about it. He’s in a downward spiral.
“The other players think he’s throwing his career away and seriously messing his life up.
“They feel sorry for him, but he needs to sort himself out. He is a millionaire star in danger of throwing it all away.”
Zopiclone is prescribed to cure bad cases of insomnia – but doctors only dish out a short course of the drug over two to four weeks because of its addictive nature.
Tablets come in two different strengths – 3.75mg and 7.5mg.
The England star is left ineffective, drowsy and lacklustre’ in training after using the pillsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Zopiclone has become notorious as a recreational drug in recent years in the UK thanks to its pleasurable tranquilising “high”.
Due to it’s highly addictive nature, it has been banned in the US but can be bought from illicit wesbites and the Dark Web.
The Government made it a Class C controlled drug last year.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
