Eric Dier reveals he ‘wishes he did more’ to help Dele Alli after his former Tottenham team-mate opened up on his struggles last year… as the Bayern Munich star admits he ‘has a lot of regrets’

Eric Dier has opened up about his relationship with Dele Alli and admitted he wanted to do more to help his former Tottenham and England teammate.

The pair played together at Spurs between 2015 and 2022 and became close friends while starring in Mauricio Pochettino’s time at the club.

However, Alli began to struggle for form and fitness and moved to Everton in 2022, where he is yet to make an impact.

In July 2023, the 27-year-old attacking midfielder opened up about his career struggles and difficult upbringing in a heartbreaking interview with Gary Neville.

Among the interview’s several heartbreaking revelations, Alli explained how he was sexually abused at the age of six, began dealing drugs at age eight, and also divulged that he spent six weeks in rehab last year due to an addiction to pills. sleep and mental health problems.

Alli and Dier became close during their time as teammates at Tottenham from 2015 to 2022.

Alli opened up about her professional struggles and difficult childhood in an interview with Gary Neville.

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And Dier, who joined Bayern Munich on loan in January after 10 years at Tottenham, expressed his sadness at Alli’s problems.

“It’s hard for me to talk about Dele,” he said, speaking for The overlapbrought to you by sky bet.

“I talk to him all the time, every week, obviously (the Gary Neville interview) was very difficult to watch.

‘I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the whole video, I’ve seen bits and pieces, but it’s hard for me to watch. She said some good things about me, but it works both ways.

“He has also been a great friend to me. It bothers me a little because people talked to me after that interview, but he has also been a great friend to me. Dele is a special person.

“I remember I was getting married and I knew he was in America, in rehab, and I spoke to him a couple of times and told him it wouldn’t be a problem if he couldn’t come and they almost insulted him, he came and was there for me. That’s the kind of friend he’s been to me.

Dier added that he wished he had done a better job helping Alli overcome her struggles and admitted that he has many regrets.

Dier expressed regret after learning of Alli’s struggles and finds it difficult to talk about him.

Eric Dier was speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, presented by Sky Bet

Alli has played just 13 times for Everton, with his most recent appearance coming in August 2022.

He added: “I’m disappointed we didn’t do more.” In many situations that I remember, I wasn’t aware of the big picture and there are a lot of things.

‘I was that annoying older person, I was always on his case so he would hide things from me, or tell me something but only give me 20%.

“I have a lot of regrets and there were certain moments where I wish I had done more.”

Alli has made just 13 appearances since joining Everton, the last coming in August 2022, while the attacking midfielder also endured a difficult loan spell with Besiktas last season.

Eric Dier spoke at The overlapbrought to you by sky bet

To watch the full video, visit Overlap’s YouTube Channel.