Everton’s Dele Alli says he was sexually abused as a child and dealt drugs before he was adopted by an “amazing” family who helped him to turn his life around.

In an interview, Alli, a former England international, said he was sexually abused by a friend of his mother when he was six years old and was dealing drugs by the age of eight.

“At six, I was molested by my mum’s friend who was at the house at lot; my mum was an alcoholic,” he said. “I was sent to Africa to learn discipline, and then I was sent back. Seven, I started smoking; eight, I started dealing drugs.”

The midfielder, who spoke emotionally about his troubled childhood, also said he recently spent six weeks in rehab due to an addiction to sleeping pills.

The 27-year-old said although his addiction to the pills was to “numb the feelings he had”, he did not understand the hazards.

”But I was never dealing with the root of the problem —- when I was growing up, the traumas I had, the feelings I had, and I tried to deal with it all by myself. I lost myself for a few years,” Alli said.

The midfielder joined Everton on a two-and-a-half-year deal in February last year to revive his career after seven years at Tottenham Hotspur.

He moved to Turkish side Besiktas on loan for the 2022/2023 season and came out of rehab last month.

He was born in Milton Keynes in central England to a Nigerian father and an English mother, but his father left shortly after his birth.

Alli spent two years in Nigeria with his father as a child before returning to England, and at the age of 13, he was taken in by Alan and Sally Hickford.

“Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate.

“At 12, I was adopted. And from then, I was adopted by an amazing family; I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’ve done for me,” the midfielder said.

In a statement, Everton said they had offered Alli their full support.

“The club has been supporting Dele in both his return to fitness and overcoming the personal challenges highlighted in his interview,” the club said.

The club lauded Alli’s courage to open up about his childhood challenges.

Alli, who won the PFA Young Player of the Year award while at Tottenham twice, is injured presently but could feature next season for Sean Dyche’s Everton.

(Reuters/NAN)