Dele Alli's adopted brother Harry Hickford sends him a heartwarming message of love and support

Dele Alli's adopted brother and best friend Harry Hickford has send a heartwarming message of love and support to the Everton midfielder.

In an emotional and tell-all interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap that was released on Thursday, Alli bravely revealed he checked himself into rehab recently to kick an addiction to sleeping tablets and confront his traumatic childhood, while he also opened up about his difficulties in recent years.

Alli was heralded as a generational talent during his early days at Tottenham but his career has not turned out the way many predicted.

The England star emerged as one of the country's best young talents despite a troubled childhood that saw him taken into foster care.

And speaking candidly to Neville, Alli disclosed all about his time in a rehab facility and shocking revelations from his childhood, including one that he was molested as a child by a friend of his mother's.

His mother, Denise, has previously described his upbringing as 'rough'.

Meanwhile, Dele himself admitted he fell in with 'the wrong crowd' when he was growing up as a youth in Milton Keynes, and would often hang out with older boys on the streets until 2am.

But the prodigious football talent was quickly spotted and he began training with MK Dons five days a week, and moved in with team-mate Hickford - who went onto become his closest friend - and his family.

And Hickford shared a photo of the pair on his Instagram account from when they were at school together with a caption showing his support for the 27-year-old after the heartbreaking interview.

He said: 'I can’t put into words how proud I am of you @dele. It took so much strength and courage for you to open up about your recent struggles.

'You will never understand how