Tottenham Hotspur F.C. star player, Dele Alli’s father, Kehinde Alli has cried out over rejection by his first son. Kehinde 47, a multi-millionaire businessman revealed that the only thing missing in his life is his first-born son. “I just do not understand what we have done wrong. He refuses to speak to me and it feels like he’s been taken from us. But I won’t give up on getting him back. I have not been able to see him since he signed for Tottenham in February 2015”
Last August Dele disclosed that he would no longer wear Alli on the back of his shirt, as he said he felt “no connection” to the name. Dele was born in Milton Keynes, Bucks, in April 1996 just over a year after his parents first met in a nightclub. At that time the father originally from Nigeria, was studying for a Masters at De Montfort University.
He and Dele’s mother, Denise then a full-time mum of two, married after a whirlwind romance. They broke up three years after Dele was born. In 2000 Kehinde moved to Canada for work, returning to the UK regularly. Despite the distance the couple stayed close, with Kehinde supporting Denise and all her children. When Dele was eight, Kehinde moved back to his home city of Lagos.
The youngster, Dele a prince of Nigeria’s Yoruba tribe through birth – soon moved there to join him in Lagos. They lived in a 10-room mansion where Dele led a life of luxury, being waited on by three maids and attending a private £20,000-a-year international school.
Dele later moved with Kehinde to another mansion in Houston, Texas, and was best man at his dad’s wedding to Lola in 2006. He returned to England aged 11 after his talent for football and obsession with the game became clear. The father said: “It was hard for me to let him go but I knew it was the best thing for him and his ambition.”
After returning to Milton Keynes to live with Denise, Dele began playing for junior side City Colts. He was quickly spotted by youth scouts from the town’s Football League club MK Dons. And as time went on he gradually began to withdraw from his family. He stopped answering phone calls, came home less, missed family events and finally cut contact completely.
The father, an oil, gas, and technology entrepreneur, thinks his son is being manipulated by others for financial gain. He has repeatedly made the 5,000-mile journey to London from his home in Houston, trying to reunite the family. He has bought tickets for a string of Spurs games home and away just so he can see Dele in the flesh and support him, including at the club’s 1-0 win over Middlesbrough recently. He has also spent a full day standing outside Tottenham’s training ground and even paid to go on a tour of White Hart Lane in the hope he would see Dele.
The father further revealed that: “Not being able to see or speak to him hurts a lot. Myself and his brothers watch all his games on TV and they ask me, ‘Why won’t he see us?’ Dele has apparently told his sister I was never there for him growing up, but I can’t understand that. He lived with me for years and I have always been there for him both emotionally and financially.”
“Up until he was an adult I paid for every holiday he ever went on and all his costs. I bought him his first car when he passed his driving test. Now he is turning his back on the family who love him. I know some people will think we just want him for his money, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m very wealthy in my own right and I don’t need a penny from Dele.”
– Culled from www.mirror.co.uk