Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou
Tottenham are ready to accept offers for Eric Dier in the January transfer window with the England defender out of manager Ange Postecoglou’s plans.
Dier has not played a single minute this season and, with his contract due to expire at the end of this term, the January window represents the last chance for Spurs to cash in on the defender, who arrived from Sporting Lisbon in a £4million deal back in 2014.
The 29-year-old had appeared to have been edging closer to some game time recently, making the bench for Tottenham’s Premier League clashes with Sheffield United and Arsenal last month.
However, Dier was absent from the Spurs squad for Saturday’s dramatic victory over Liverpool, reinforcing suspicions that his days in north London are numbered.
A report by Football Insider claims that Tottenham are ready to accept offers for Dier ahead of the transfer window reopening in January.
That comes after Dier reportedly turned down offers to leave the club last summer in favour of remaining at Spurs, with the news of Dier’s availability likely to alert Serie A side Roma, currently managed by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho.
Dier was a fixture in Mourinho’s team during the Portuguese manager’s Tottenham tenure between 2019 and 2021, making a total of 57 appearances for the 60-year-old, who deployed Dier as both a holding midfielder as well as his preferred position of centre-back.
Roma have made a habit of rehabilitating English talent in recent times, signing former Manchester United defender Chris Smalling following a successful loan in 2020 before luring ex-Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham the following year.
Doubts Eric Dier is suited to Postecoglou’s pressing game at Spurs
Dier is said to be very tempted to link up with his former boss Mourinho as soon as January, having originally been set on running his Tottenham contract to its conclusion next summer.
Despite being a regular starter under Mourinho and his successor Antonio Conte at Spurs, Dier has found his playing time limited under Postecoglou this season with Cristian Romero establishing a fine partnership with new signing Micky van de Ven, who arrived from Wolfsburg last summer.
Doubts have persisted over whether Dier has the required skillset to play in Postecoglou’s system, with the Australian manager preferring a high defensive line to aid his pressing game.
Dier is said to lack the recovery pace of Romero and Van de Ven, with Postecoglou reportedly looking for a new centre-back to add to his ranks.
Spurs have been closely linked with a move for 24-year-old Galatasaray and Denmark defender Victor Nelsson, but are likely to face competition for his signature from local rivals Arsenal as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Meanwhile, after beating Liverpool on the pitch on Saturday Spurs are aiming to pip the Merseyside club to the signing of a highly rated Bournemouth defender in January.
