Sean Dyche has admitted that Dele Alli is ‘miles away’ from a first team return, despite being ‘well in himself’.
The Everton midfielder earned huge kudos over the summer because of his brutally honest interview with Gary Neville.
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He revealed that he was molested at the age of six and began dealing drugs at the age of eight, he was later adopted at the age of 12.
Alli also said he became addicted to sleeping tablets in an effort to quell his mental trauma and worries the problem is more widespread in football.
He also considered retiring at the age of 24 and recently spent time in rehab to improve his mental health.
Having endured a torrid time on loan with Besiktas last term, Alli has now returned to Merseyside with Everton and will be hoping to start enjoying his football again this term.
But while Dyche said that the club are working with the player, a first team return is still some way off.
Dyche said: “He is still not over his injury yet. He is well in himself but he is not over his injury.
“We are miles away from that [thinking about a squad role], he is just getting himself right again.
“He is feeling good and now we will be working with him, on top of that, to make sure the injury is right. But it is still going to be a bit of time yet.”
Of course Alli was a key player for England in recent years too, winning 37 caps for his country and appearing on talkSPORT last week, Gareth Southgate threw his full backing behind the midfielder to make a full recovery – from a personal point of view, as well as a professional one.
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Speaking during his appearance on talkSPORT, Southgate said: “When you are a manager or coach, you have a far better understanding of what is going on in people’s lives.
“Without knowing all of the details that Dele gave that day, I have a very good idea about his upbringing and the challenges that he had been through.
“I remember reading Paul Gascoigne’s autobiography and people would say that he wasted his talent but his view is that it was a miracle he got to where he did.
“With some of our boys and the way that their lives were when they were younger, it is actually a miracle they get as far as they do.
“So it is easy to say they are wasting their talent but none of us really know what goes on behind closed doors.
“As coaches, you try to help and try to support. What pleased me most about listening to Dele’s story was that he had gone to rehab and he recognised that this was something that he needed to take control.
“Let’s hope, from a human level, that he can get back on track and the football will come as a part of that.”
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