Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino says he was unable to finish watching Dele Alli’s interview with Gary Neville because it was “too painful”.
Dele stripped bare in emotional interview with Gary Neville on the show TheOverlap, revealing that he had been molested as a child and had recently checked himself into rehab to combat his addiction to sleeping pills.
Pochettino worked with the 27-year-old at Spurs, guiding him to the PFA Young Player of the Year award after signing him from the MK Dons, and he insists he ‘loves’ his former player so much he couldn’t finish watching the interview and planned to meet him.
Pochettino told ESPN: “Of course, it was very difficult for me to see him. I didn’t finish the interview it was so painful. He knows how much we (Pochettino and his team) love him, how important he is to us as a person. As a player he was extraordinary, but as a person he has a big, big heart. And of course we are in contact. After the US tour, I hope to see him in London, meet him and hug him.
“It’s always hard when you love someone and they show it in an interview like this, it’s really, really painful. But he’s a strong, incredible man, and he’s sure to get stronger.
Pochettino has already said he wants to “help” the ex-England international, who played in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup with his country. Dele spent last season on loan at Besiktas but returned to Everton for the 2023-24 season.
