FORMER Chelsea midfielder Jacob Mellis has revealed he is now homeless.
The 32-year-old, who spent five years at Chelsea as a teenager, was forced to hang up his boots last year due to a misdiagnosed knee injury.
Mellis earned £8000-a-week at Chelsea
He played for 10 different clubs before retiring last year
He now has no home, no car and no job.
For the last 18 months he has moved from hotel rooms to couches, reliant on the goodwill of friends and family for help.
And in an interview with The Daily Mail, he recently opened up about how his life has been turned upside down.
He said: “I spend each day just thinking about where to go really.
“I have family but I don’t really want to rely on them. I want to try to do stuff for myself. It’s been difficult. I try not to think about it too much. I just try and get on with it.
“They just want the best for me. They try to help me as much as they can. Obviously they’ve got their own lives. They get me hotels, or I can stay at their house sometimes.
“From day to day nothing is settled. You think it can never happen to you. I didn’t plan on retiring. It’s difficult.”
Mellis also bravely spoke about his ongoing struggle with alcohol, something that has affected him since his Chelsea days.
He revealed: “Throughout my career it’s been a thing that’s caused me problems. When you’re drinking you’re not in control of what you’re doing.
“It affects training, managers wouldn’t be happy. I remember I turned up one time to training drunk. I would’ve been 19. Steve Holland [Chelsea’s assistant coach] sent me in. There’s been a few occasions where it has affected me.
“David Luiz didn’t speak too much English, but when we’d be warming up he’d [mimics sniffing his breath] ‘Hey, have you been drinking?’. He would say stop.
“Dermot Drummy [Chelsea’s former academy manager] gave me a mentor, Ashley Cole, to stop me from going out and to talk to me. So people did try, I can’t lie.
“I was cocky back then, arrogant. I felt like I should be playing. I feel like it is a good thing if it’s channelled in the right way. But I don’t think I channelled it in the right way.”
He later added: “I’m drinking as much as I can really. Just to forget about the stress.
“It’s pretty much when the opportunity comes.”
Mellis left Chelsea in 2012 to sign for Barnsley, where he spent two years before joining Blackpool.
He also played for Oldham, Bury, Mansfield, Bolton and Gillingham before retiring at Southend United in the National League.
The former midfielder is now hoping to find a new role in football.
Chelsea have helped Mellis gain his first two scouting badges, and he is also in the process of getting help from both the PFA and Tony Adams’ Sporting Chance clinic.
