The star of Bayern Munich, Eric Dier, has opened up about how he wished he “did more” to support Dele Alli in his battles with mental health. Both of them succeeded at Tottenham together, and even after moving on to other places, they kept in touch.
Last summer, Alli opened up to Manchester United great Gary Neville in a frank interview. The former England star shed many tears as he discussed the challenges he has experienced throughout his career.
The midfield player talked about his experiences growing up—he was molested at age six, sold narcotics when he was eight years old, and most recently, while on loan at Besiktas, he went to rehab to treat his painkiller addiction. Alli also disclosed that he has thought about hanging up his football boots and giving up on the game.
Though Dier, the former star of Tottenham, expressed regret after the interview, it did spur many constructive debates about mental health across the wider athletic community. The England player was taken aback to discover of Alli’s background despite having spent several years with him at Spurs.
Dier told The Overlap: “It’s difficult for me to talk about Dele. I speak to him all the time, every week, obviously, it was just very difficult to watch. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the whole video, I’ve seen bits of it but it’s difficult for me to watch, he said some nice things about me, but it works both ways – he’s also been a great friend to me. “It annoys me a little because people after that interview would talk to me, but he’s been a great friend to me as well – Dele is a special person. I remember, I was getting married and knew that he was in America, in rehab, and I spoke to him a few times and said that there would be no problem if he couldn’t come and he was almost insulted, he came and was there for me – that’s the type of friend he’s been to me.
“It annoys me a little because people after that interview would talk to me, but he’s been a great friend to me as well – Dele is a special person. I remember, I was getting married and knew that he was in America, in rehab, and I spoke to him a few times and said that there would be no problem if he couldn’t come and he was almost insulted, he came and was there for me – that’s the type of friend he’s been to me.
