Tottenham Hotspur could be set to cash in on an experienced player who is struggling for form in January, with a fresh report revealing that he’s emerged as a top target for an admirer overseas.
Who is leaving Spurs?
Over the summer, Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Davinson Sanchez and Lucas Moura all departed the club on a permanent basis, whilst Djed Spence, Tanguy Ndombele, Sergio Reguilon, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga were sent out on loan for the remainder of the season.
The Lilywhites exits might not stop there with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg attracting interest from Juventus ahead of the new year, not to mention that Hugo Lloris, Fraser Forster, Ivan Perisic and Brandon Austin have also been name-checked as players who could be heading for the door (Spurs exit links).
Ange Postecoglou hasn’t yet handed an opportunity to Eric Dier following his arrival in the dugout, with the centre-back having played zero minutes in the Premier League so far this season (WhoScored – Dier statistics), which shows just how much he has fallen significantly out of favour in North London.
The England international will additionally be out of contract at the end of the current campaign (Tottenham contracts), so with the upcoming window set to be the final chance for chiefs to cash in should they not want to risk losing him for free, the 29-year-old is another squad member on the chopping block.
Eric Dier transfer update
According to Italian outlet Tuttosport (via Corriere Giallorosso and Sport Witness) who have shared a transfer update on Eric Dier, Spurs’ defender is a “favourite name” of Jose Mourinho at AS Roma.
The Serie A manager is plotting a reunion with his former stalwart and he is therefore at the top of the list of his options ready to pursue in January. The Tottenham star is “ready to leave” the capital due to his worrying lack of game time and it’s believed that he would “welcome” the move to Italy.
What happened to Eric Dier?
Since joining from Sporting CP back in 2014, Dier has largely been a consistent performer over the years, but it’s obvious to see that his levels have recently dropped, especially last season as he failed to make any kind of positive impact for Spurs.
The Cheltenham-born talent ranked as the club’s 14th best-performing defensive player out of 29 squad members having averaged just 0.9 tackles per game in the top-flight (WhoScored – Tottenham statistics), and was regularly criticised by fans and media alike.
Standing at 6 foot 2, Postecoglou’s outcast is also currently pocketing £85k-per-week – which is the same as Pedro Porro and more than the likes of Brennan Johnson and Micky Van De Ven – so it’s certainly not fair that he is earning the same amount of some of the boss’ genuine first-team stars (Tottenham salaries).
Therefore, Dier, who has been labelled “dreadful” by journalist Josh Bunting, should be removed from the books as quickly as possible so that the board can use the extra cash to generate funds for new signings either at the start of next year or later in the summer.
