England soccer player Dele Alli was in rehab for 6 weeks after sleeping-pill addiction

MANCHESTER, England — Dele Alli spent six weeks in rehab in the United States in a bid to deal with mental-health problems stemming from a traumatic childhood and after getting addicted to sleeping pills. Among them, Alli said in an episode of The Overlap released Thursday, was a reliance on sleeping pills which he said he was taking “just to escape from reality.” “It’s been going on for a long time, without me realizing it, the things I was doing to numb the feelings I had. I think it’s something that’s going around more than people realize in football.” Alli, who is currently under contract at Premier League team Everton, said he decided to check into a rehab facility for addiction, mental health and trauma after being told he needed surgery following his return from a loan spell at Turkish club Besiktas in April. Alli said at the age of 24, when Jose Mourinho was Tottenham’s manager, he returned to a “bad place.” “One morning I woke up,” he said, “and I had to go to training — this is when he’d stopped playing me — I was in a bad place and I remember just looking in the mirror … and was asking if I can retire now. Harry Kane, the England captain and a former teammate of Alli’s at Tottenham, tweeted that he was proud of Alli “for speaking out and sharing his experience to try and help others” while Everton said the club “respects and applauds Dele’s bravery to speak about the difficulties he has faced, as well as seek the help required.” ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports