When Dele Alli recently spoke with Gary Neville on The Overlap, amongst other things he mentioned that he, and other Premier League players had an addiction to sleeping pills, however, it’s an addiction of an entirely different kind that appears to be rife in the English top-flight.
In this day and age, when any sportsman or woman is supposed to be an elite athlete and dedicate themselves to their craft, it’s a worrying development to know just what’s going on under the radar.
Premier League managers will surely be furious if they find out that some of their players are taking part in this new practice.
The Sun are reporting that, after the PFA launched an investigation to stamp out the use of snus – a small bag of tobacco that sits behind the lip and which it’s believed many players are addicted to – a large number of players are placing nicotine patches between their toes.
In so doing, they’re not at risk of being caught out by their managers predominantly, or others.
It does highlight the need for more to be done in the care and well-being of players by the likes of the PFA and others, however.
Though a nicotine hit may not affect a player’s performance to any great degree, there’s still likely to be changes in their level over time.
Reporting of the problem only serves to place more emphasis on it, and it’s surely then only a matter of time before players are outed to their managers, causing yet more behind the scenes issues.