Everton midfielder Dele Alli admits he was sexually abused as a child.

Alli revealed revealed the abused he suffered as a child before he was adopted aged 12.

He discussed being "molested" at six before being "sent to Africa to learn discipline".

Speaking to Sky's The Overlap, Alli said: "At seven, I started smoking, eight I started dealing drugs.

"An older person told me that they wouldn't stop a kid on a bike, so I rode around with my football, and then underneath I'd have the drugs. That was eight.

"Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate, a man.

"Twelve, I was adopted - and from then, it was like - I was adopted by an amazing family like I said, I couldn't have asked for better people to do what they'd done for me. If God created people, it was them."

Alli also detailed his recent months after returning from his loan at Besiktas.

"When I came back from Turkey, I found out I needed an operation and I was in a bad place mentally," he said.

"I decided to go to a modern day rehab facility for mental health. They deal with addiction, mental health and trauma.

"I felt like it was time for me. With things like that, you can't be told to go there. You have to know and make the decision yourself or it's not going to work. I was caught in a bad cycle. I was relying on things that were doing me harm.

"I was waking up every day and I was winning the fight going into training, smiling, showing that I was happy but inside I was definitely losing the battle. It was time for me to change it."