Tottenham Hotspur are confident that they can prevent Eric Dier from joining Manchester United despite a £40 million offer
According to a report by Daily Mail, Manchester United’s manager Jose Mourinho has made a whopping £40 million offer for the defender. The Spurs, on the other hand, are confident of retaining one of their best players, and not worried about losing Dier to a rival club.
Eric Dier has always been one of Spurs’ strongest defenders. His ability to transition between defending and guarding the midfield allows Tottenham to seamlessly switch from defence to offense.
Manchester United have had a good season as far as defence is concerned, especially with their 25-game unbeaten run. However, what they are lacking right now is the ability to effectively switch between defending and attacking. That is where Dier plays a key role for Tottenham, and he can help United do the same.
Dier has made 45 appearances this season for Tottenham and has scored two goals against Burnley and Watford. He filled in for Toby Alderweireld’s centre-back role in his absence, and could ajust easily while adding composure to the defence.
The 23-year-old has proven his versatility, but that itself could become a bane for him instead of a boon. Often times when a player is versatile and can adjust easily, there’s no balance in his game since he has to keep switching between certain styles. Dier has also mentioned several times that he does not have any preferred position per se, since he can adapt to almost any position on the field.
Dier has been shuffled and reshuffled by Pochettino several times after joining White Hart Lane from Sporting Lisbon in 2014. He has played in defence, midfield and then was back to defending again. He has spent a lot of his time as a center-back for Tottenham, but he is essentially a midfielder for England. During the previous international break, he started in the midfield against Germany and Lithuania.
In fact, Tottenham was considered as the team supplying the best of fresh talent last season when Eric Dier first made his mark in the Premier League.
Although United’s defence is quite stable, Dier will prove to be vital in helping them transition their playing style in the middle of a match. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Mourinho is pursuing this deal.
However, United may not actually get to play with Dier since Spurs are adamant about not letting Dier leave. They are also preparing to spend a season at Wembley Stadium, and would not want to lose their key players ahead of that.
As far as current standings are concerned of both teams, Spurs will have to be satisfied with a second place finish due to a 1-0 defeat by West Ham. Meanwhile, Manchester United have kept all their eggs in one basket as far as the Europa League is concerned, and it remains to be seen if Mourinho’s off-field tactics pay off.
