Mauricio Pochettino has ruled out any chance of Eric Dier leaving Tottenham Hotspur
Reports emerged yesterday that Dier was attracting interest from the likes of Chelsea and Bayern Munich with the 22-year old’s performances in midfield impressing clubs around the world.
Dier only joined Tottenham in 2014 for a £4m from Sporting CP and has quickly become one of the key members of Mauricio Pochettino’s team. It is no surprise that he has garnered the interest of bigger clubs than Tottenham, but, Mauricio Pochettino has ruled out any chance of Dier leaving the North London side :
“Absolutely no,” Pochettino said when asked if Dier could leave Tottenham, according to Goal.
“Eric Dier is our player. He is still under contract, we improved his salary after the Euros. There is no doubt that his future is at Tottenham.”
Dier is said to be growing frustrated with his relatively diminished role at Tottenham this season which has sparked reports of a possible exit.
A tall, physical player; Dier is also comfortable on the ball and has good passing ability. He is also adept at taking set-pieces. Dier’s versatility is also another factor that will attract potential buyers. The Englishman can play a variety of positions and is equally comfortable in the centre of defence or at right-back.
The English midfielder made 37 league appearances out of a possible 38 for Tottenham last season and was one of Pochettino’s most consistent performers. His fine form saw him earn his first call-up to England’s senior team in November 2016, before he was selected in the final squad for the Euro 2016 tournament.
This season, Dier has only managed 12 appearances in the league – 2 of which have come as a substitute – and this has apparently not sat well with him. He has failed to recapture his form from last season – just like Spurs – and this has led to him being benched on more than one occasion. Pochettino may insist that Dier is going nowhere but the prospect of playing for Bayern Munich or Chelsea is an attractive one and should the interest in Dier be real, it is unlikely he will not have his head turned.
Dier only signed a new 5-year contract in September and will definitely not come cheap should Bayern or Chelsea pursue their interest but that is unlikely to deter either of them.
