Dele Alli claims he's banned from Tesco for life and can't step foot in store

· Mirror

Former Tottenham and England star Dele Alli has opened up about an embarrassing incident from his past

Dele Alli has revealed he was hit with a lifetime ban from Tesco stores after being caught stealing as a youngster. The former Tottenham star has previously been candid about his traumatic childhood, during which he says he was sexually abused and dealing drugs at the age of eight before being adopted at 12.

He has now spoken about his brush with Tesco. Speaking on the I'm Just Bait Instagram channel, he admitted to shoplifting, which landed him a ban from one of the UK's biggest supermarket chains.

Alli recalled how he had to sheepishly reveal to team-mates why he couldn't nip into a store to pick up some energy drinks on the way to training. He said: "They'd get Powerades and stuff to go training. I'd sit in the back being quiet, trying to be like I'm a good kid.

> "They must have been talking about something to do with them at school and they was like, 'Can you go into the shop?' They gave me money and was like, 'Can you get the Lucozade?' They gave me money. I was just sat in the back, I didn't get out of the car.

> "Thirty seconds went by and they looked back, they're still talking. They look back and they was like, 'Can you go get the Lucozades?' I was like, 'I can't'. They was like, 'Why?' I was like, 'I'm banned for life."

Asked by the interviewer why and what he stole, he added: "Because I was robbing the place up. Everything bro."

Tesco has been contacted for comment.

Alli, a star of England's run to the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup, left Spurs in 2022 and has since struggled to rebuild his career. After failed spells at Everton, Besiktas (on loan) and Como, the 30-year-old is a free agent.

He spent time training at Spurs last season to build up his fitness. This season, he has been training at the home of League Two side Barnet, sharing a video of him in shooting practice at the north London side's The Hive base.

He has since been invited to formally train with the Bees, who currently top League Two. Barnet boss Dean Brennan says he would love to sign the midfielder, telling The Sun: "If my owner said to me, 'You could sign Dele Alli', I'd run the London Marathon for him – even though I haven't run for about 20 years! Whatever I had to do to sign Dele Alli, I'd take it because he is a fantastic talent.

> "He has got himself into a situation where things haven't worked out how they should, but that's life. I know Mauricio Pochettino and Karl Robinson, who managed him at MK Dons, thought he was a special talent.

> "He still has that special quality but football moves so fast and the game's not showing him any love. I'd absolutely snap your hands off if Dele was interested and take him all day long. We'll see what happens."

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