According to Yoruba prince Bamidele Alli, he was sent to Nigeria to learn discipline and did not like it.
In an effort to encourage others to get assistance, Dele Alli has been transparent about his struggles with mental health.
In an effort to cope with his issues, which included a sleeping pill addiction, the 27-year-old stated that he had spent some of this summer looking for rehab in the USA.
The Everton midfielder provides moving insight into the problems he is trying to overcome by explaining how his addiction developed as a result of his attempts to cope with trauma he experienced as a child.
Dele Alli and Gary Neville
In a courageous interview with The Overlap, Alli describes his growing understanding of the issues he has been battling for years while speaking to his former England coach, Gary Neville.
He said he was in a better place because of the work he has done in recent months, encouraging those who might be going through hardship in their personal lives.
![In an effort to encourage others to get assistance, Dele Alli has been transparent about his struggles with mental health.](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/13072023/191d6b67-f4ec-4ab1-94be-2771a8aad8c9.jpg?operations=fit(480:))
Delle Alli and Nigeria
Asked by Neville about his stay in Nigeria, Alli explained that it was not a pleasurable experience as he did not want to be there.
He said, “I got in trouble a lot you know with the police, and I had no rules um I grew up without any rules.
![In a courageous interview with The Overlap, Alli describes his growing understanding of the issues he has been battling for years while speaking to his former England coach, Gary Neville.](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/13072023/43cc00ad-99e6-418a-8ef2-5d39e5afb508.jpg?operations=fit(480:))
“Like I said, my mum was she drunk a lot and I don't blame her at all for what happened.
“My dad, my blood dad lived in Africa and then I got sent to him I was meant to stay there for a year.
“Horrible I didn't want to be there at all I think nothing against you know where I was um but just going from what I was living in uh because we had no money.
![Asked by Neville about his stay in Nigeria, Alli explained that it was not a pleasurable experience as he did not want to be there.](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/13072023/5575a3e7-0f56-4b14-9144-0cb2030b141a.jpg?operations=fit(480:))
“So there was that and then it was just a big culture change, and I didn't want to be there/
“So I was a little bit more naughty, and then after six months I got sent back. Bye, dad.”
Alli detailed the difficulty of his relationship with his birth parents and how he needed to heal from past trauma.
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