"It's difficult for me"

Bayern veteran: “Wish I had done more”

Eric Dier (left) has spoken out about his former teammate Dele Alli.(Bild: APA/AFP/LUKAS BARTH)

Bayern defender Eric Dier has addressed his former teammate Dele Alli with frank words. The veteran wishes he had done more for his friend, who was going through a difficult time. Alli spoke about the consequences of his difficult childhood in a video last summer, shocking even his friends. 

His long-time friend was a "special person", explained Dier in "The Overlap" podcast. After the friend's shocking revelations last summer, the Bayern veteran kept thinking and reproaching himself.

"In many situations that I look back on, I wasn't aware of the bigger picture and there are a lot of things I regret now," Dier is honest. He never watched the video in its entirety, as it was difficult for him to hear his former teammate talk about such terrible things. 

"Never let me down"
The 30-year-old is therefore plagued by his conscience: "I was this annoying older person who was always on his back, so he hid things from me. I wish I had done more." Ali was always a good friend and never let Dier down.

"When I was six, I was abused by a friend of my mother's, who was an alcoholic. I started smoking when I was seven and was dealing drugs when I was eight. When I was eleven, I was hanged from a bridge by a man from the neighborhood," Alli explained in the summer of 2023 and explained that these experiences continue to haunt him.