Former Tottenham and England midfielder Dele Alli has revealed he was handed a lifetime ban from Tesco after being caught shoplifting as a youngster. The 30-year-old, who has been without a club since leaving Como, opened up about the incident on the I'm Just Bait Instagram channel.
Shoplifting admission
Alli, who has previously spoken about his traumatic childhood, said he stole from the supermarket, leading to the ban. He recalled having to explain to team-mates why he could not go into a store to buy 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 he was banned and what he stole, he added: "Because I was robbing the place up. Everything bro."
Career struggles and Barnet link
Tesco has been contacted for comment. Alli, a key figure in England's run to the 2018 World Cup semi-final, left Spurs in 2022 and has struggled to rebuild his career since. After spells at Everton, Besiktas on loan and Como, he is now a free agent.
He spent time training at Spurs last season to build up fitness and has this season been training at League Two side Barnet's The Hive base. Barnet, who currently top League Two, have invited him to formally train with the squad.
Barnet boss Dean Brennan said 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."
